Crimean Wine tourism whose purpose is or includes the tasting, consumption or purchase of wine, often at or near the source. Wine tourism can consist of visits to wineries, vineyards and restaurants known to offer unique vintages, as well as organized wine tours, wine festivals or other special events.
If you love discovering and tasting new wines, then you will be spoiled for choice at Massandra Wine Tour, with our extensive range of wine tasting tours.
Massandra Tour offers wine and spirit enthusiasts the opportunity to learn more about the history of their favourite tipple and how to fully appreciate them through a variety of wine tasting tours and monthly tasting classes.
Whether you want to learn how wine is produced, how to match cheese and wine, we have something for everyone to enjoy at any level and all of our wine tasting tours and masterclasses make great birthday, wedding or anniversary gifts.
A wine culture existed in today's Ukraine already in the 4th century BC at the south coast of the Crimea. Presses and amphoras were found from this period. Wine cultivation in the northern part of the country (around Kiev and Chernihiv) however only started in the 11th century by monks. Under Catherine II. (1729 - 1796) in 1783 the Crimea became a part of the Russian Empire. Count Mikhail Vorontsov put the first wine gardens in 1820 establish a large winery near Yalta. The viticulture research institute Magarach was founded then in 1828. The founder of the famous foam wines is prince Lev Golitsyn, which for the first time manufactured Russian “Champagner” after the Crimean War (1854 to 1856) on its property Novyi Svet near Yalta. Later, under the last Tzar Nicholas II (1868 - 1918) the today's state winery of Massandra was founded. During Soviet times Ukraine with 2,500 km² was the largest supplier of the wines in the USSR. It came to a disaster in 1986: about 800 km² of the vineyards were destroyed, when Mikhail Gorbachov started a campaign for the delimitation of the consumption of alcohol in USSR. Since 2000 the production as well as the export of the wines increased rapidly.

Yalta, Massandra.
The first vineyards around Yalta were planted in the early 19th century by Prince Lev Golitsyn and Count Mikhail Vorontsov, Governor general of Crimea, using imported grapes such as the Semillon, Aligote, Pedro Ximenez and Pinot varieties.
The Massandra cellars were the first to be built in tunnels underground to maintain a constant temperature of around 12 - 13 degrees C. This also had an unforeseen advantage - when revolution arrived in 1917 the wine stocks could be protected by simply walling up the galleries. In 1922 Stalin ordered the wines from all the tsar's palaces to be put under lock and key at Massandra, where wine production was re-started and continued over several generations under the Yegorov family. Just before the Nazi assault on Crimea in 1941, all the wine was removed to secret hiding places, and brought back after the German army had departed. The result is an unparalleled collection of wines going right back to some of the 19th century vintages. The shop at the Massandra cellars sells everything from very affordable to very expensive wines, so you can take your pick!

Crimean War Excursion
We offer specialized Crimean War excursions, for societies and war history specialists, or simply those who find it fascinating! With truly expert guides, we showcase the famous places of historical interest, such as The Valley of Death, Balaklava, Sevastopol. City Maps are provided to the tourist in the ports of call, maps and stands on site are provided on special interest tours.

Private Tours
We have a great selection of sample private tour itineraries and our company will be delighted to help you with the organization of any individual tours. Enjoy our exciting private tours in luxurious limos or executive sedans. Your satisfaction is our goal!

Crimean Wine Tours:

• 8 Days luxury Crimean Wine Tour