Forbes Russia presents a new project – the annual top100wines.ru wine rating, dedicated to the most relevant wines of Russian winemaking.
The Top 100 rating is based on an unbiased organoleptic evaluation of the best Russian wines, which will be given by recognized world-class wine experts during blind tastings, combined with the market expertise of the Forbes Russia team.
The project was led by well-known wine experts, Igor Serdyuk and Andrey Grigoriev, regular columnists for Forbes, who stood at the origins of Russian wine journalism and have extensive experience participating in the tasting juries of many famous wine competitions. Their authority made it possible to involve not only leading Russian but also invited Western experts in the project. Alexander Panasyuk, deputy director of the All-Russian Research Institute of the Beer, NonAlcoholic and Wine Industry for Research, agreed to become the Honorary Chairman of the Expert Council. In addition to him, the Expert Council of the top100wines.ru project included representatives of several wine schools: well-known international experts Robert Joseph and Brett Crittenden, wine academics Tatyana Selivanova and Olesya Ryabova, wine experts and teachers Alexander Kuptsov and Vasily Raskov, famous Moscow sommelier champions Anton Panasenko and Alexander Fomichev, as well as several other highly qualified specialists.
– New Russian winemaking is coming of age, – comments on one of- project managers Andrey Grigoriev. – The industry is taking shape structurally, and applications for leadership have already appeared in it, both in the economic and ideological sense. There is an obvious need for understanding this process, for an impartial view from the outside. The need for a mirror, more precisely, even in mirrors, to see how Russian wine is reflected in the eyes of the winemakers themselves, how it corresponds to the expert opinion and taste of consumers. Passing samples through 3 filters: the choice of manufacturers, the choice of independent experts and the choice of consumers, will provide the Top100wines.ru rating with the status of the most relevant for the Russian market.
In 2021, top100wines.ru rating tastings will be held in the following categories:
– still dry white wines;
– still dry red wines;
– sparkling wines classic and acratophoric.
Only samples designed and labeled in accordance with applicable law will be allowed for tastings, and their production volume must be at least 900 bottles of 0.75 liters.*
(For more details on the conditions for conducting tastings and the procedure for compiling a rating, see the Rules of top100wines.ru.)
– The rapid development of the national wine industry requires new value orientations for the consumer. The annual Top 100 rating is designed to revive consumer interest in high-quality Russian wines, to draw attention to the best samples in all price categories, – omments Igor Serdyuk. – With the help of our rating, choosing a quality wine will become part of an exciting educational process.
The progress of the project will be covered on the Forbes.ru website and other sites of the Forbes.ru media platform. The final list of the first hundred – Top100wines.ru – will be published on 12/10/21 on the Forbes.ru website with tasting scores received by each sample during the final tasting and comments explaining the position of the samples in the ranking, as well as in the January issue of Forbes Russia magazine (will be released from printing in December 2021). On the eve of the publication of the rating, on December 09, 2021, Forbes Wine Day will take place, which will include a business conference, a tasting room, and a gala reception with an awards ceremony. A more detailed presentation of materials related to the creation of the rating, as well as its results and an overview of the Russian wine industry, will be devoted to a special supplement of Forbes magazine in February 2022.
-The Forbes brand and its media platform will make it possible to promote Russian wine both among Russian consumers and in the international arena,– believes Forbes Russia CEO Elmar Murtazaev.– We are confident that quality the expertise and reputation of the project leaders will provide an unbiased, interesting and market-relevant professional assessment of the situation in the industry.