Krimsekt Шампанськe is Back in Time for the Holidays

Krimsekt sparkling wines have returned to the LCBO for the holidays. Krimsekt white brut has been sold in Ontario since 2005. But for the first time ever, fans of the famous bubbly will be able to buy Krimsekt Red Semi-Sweet.

John Vellinga, President of Multiculture Bevco, the distributor for Krimsekt in Canada, says “Krimsekt’s reds are what made them famous world-wide”. He explains that “Their white brut is less well-known, but still managed to win a Gold Medal for best sparkling wine at the Ottawa Food and Wine Show. People know that the white is great, but the red - well that is something just completely exotic and special.”

The grapes for Krimsekt are grown on the storied Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine. Crimea offers superb soil and one of the finest growing climates in the world. The wines are crafted by the Artemivske Champagne Winery, reputed to be the best in Central and Eastern Europe. The entire Winery and its cellars are underground, in a 25 hectare complex of caverns which was once a gypsum mine. Just like the chalk caves of Champagne [France], these deep caverns keep temperature and humidity perfect year-round.

Most sparkling wines are just wine that is artificially carbonated – much the same as a soft drink. However, all Krimsekt wines are double-fermented, which produces carbonation in a natural way. This is the same method used by the finest French Champagne houses - and cost three or more times as much as Krimsekt. Many wineries claim to use this method but few age and double ferment their wines as long as Artemivske: over 3 years for whites and 16 months for reds. The current vintage for Brut is 2006; 2008 for the red.

Why does a sparkling wine from Ukraine have a German name? “Krimsekt” literally means “Crimean Sparkling Wine”, in German. This is because Krimsekt is one of the most popular sparkling wines in Germany and the Winery’s number one export market. In fact, Germans have been drinking millions of bottles of Krimsekt bubbly since the 1970’s. It is exported to over 20 other countries.

“The only problem for Ukrainians is that they won’t be the only ones looking for Krimsekt,” says Vellinga. “We expect that German-Canadians will snap up most of it, since they fondly remember it from their own home country. We have advertised in German language newspapers and sent a lot of it to LCBO stores in Kitchener-Waterloo.”

Krimsekt White Brut and Red Semi Dry are available for $19.95 a bottle in the Vintages section of a select few LCBO stores (only about 30 province-wide). Check the LCBO’s web site (lcbo.com) for availability near you. It has an excellent product search function.

The company says that quantities are extremely limited (only a few hundred cases) and “will be gone by the end of the holidays”, says Vellinga, adding “If you want some for the holidays, or for a wedding this summer, you better get it now! If not, you’ll miss out or have to wait until next year”.

‘Multiculture’ is the premier importer of Ukrainian alcoholic beverages in Canada. The company also owns the Slava Ultra-Premium and Zirkova vodka brands and represents Slavutich and Lvivske beers in Canada. They also own and operate ukiestore.com.