Page 8 - Code de Vino, #3/10, s/a 2009

Code de Vino #3
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Code de Vino Wine Club
Code de Vino #3
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8 Code de Vino Wine Club Code de Vino #3
Code de Vino Wine Club
— I’m just doing what I love, what my parents used to do.
And I do it with joy. My goal isn’t to impress anyone. The
southwestern slope of Yuzhnaya Ozereyka is an ideal place to
cultivate elite grape varieties. That’s what my grandfather used
to say, and it’s proven its value over the course of history. The
fact that this region doesn’t have any global notoriety is only a
question of time.
People often say my wines are similar to those in Bordeaux.
Indeed, our terroirs have a lot in common: both regions enjoy
wonderful climate and soil. In 1872, the vines planted in
Yuzhnaya Ozereyka were imported in from Europe, and the
results were overwhelming! The problem with our people is that
our country gives us everything, but we can’t take it. We build
up our towers, and then destroy them. What I mean is that our
society forgets even the latest historical events, we have no
connection with our past, and our level of social self-awareness
is very low.
This region has such a rich history and culture that’s all but
forgotten in modern-day Russia. Recent history does exist for
me, and it’s what I rely on most, which isn’t difficult, as I have
worthy predecessors in the count Golitsyn and his Grand Prix
awards, Fedor Geiduk and others. For me all this history is as if
it happened only yesterday.
— So you’re a successor to traditions?
— That’s correct. And if we’re talking about a particular region of
winemaking, every Greek family held up their traditions. Just like
how Russian families produced hard liquors. Every drink was the
product of a long natural lineage. This was a mundane, rather
prosaic effort for us; at first our parents made us help them with
it. And since it has gradually grown into something bigger...
— Mr. Karakezidis, for several
decades now I’ve been traveling
around the world and interviewing
representatives from different wine
houses: Bordeaux and Languedoc
in France, Tuscany in Italy, Mendoza
and Salta in Argentina, Barossa
Valley in Australia, and so on.
But what is there here, in Russia?
I read a lot on the subject, and
your activity in particular caught
my eye. First of all, I want to ask
you if there is anyone in Russia in
particular who promotes the general
development of wine culture here?
— Wine culture implies a different
rhythm of life. And it’s quite possible
that the time we have for our
interview today will float by in the
blink of an eye...

— Well then, we’ll take advantage of
it while it lasts. From the feedback
on your work I know that you’re
producing exceptional wine of
world-class quality even here in
Russia.