page_title: Russian wine
section_title: Geography and climate
hierarchical_section_title: Russian wine / Geography and climate
context_page_description: Russian wine refers to wine made in Russia, at times also including the disputed region of Crimea. The vast majority of Russia's territory is unsuitable for grape growing, with most of the production concentrated in parts of Krasnodar and Rostov regions, as well as Crimea.
  The Russian market is characterized by the presence of many low-cost products, with a significant part of local wines having a retail price of less than 100 rubles. Attempts to shift away from the low-quality reputation of Soviet wines has been moderately successful, though 80% of wines sold in Russia in 2013 were made from grape concentrates.
  In 2014 Russia was ranked 11th worldwide by the area of vineyards under cultivation. The Russian wine industry is promoted by local authorities as a healthier alternative to spirits, which have a higher alcohol content.
context_section_description: The climate of the North Caucasus region, where most of Russia's vineyards are located, is typical of a continental region. To counter the severe winters many vine growers will cover their vines over with soil to protect the vines from frost. In the area of Krasnodar there are anywhere from 193-233 frost free days during the growing seasons that allow the vines in the area to grow to full ripening.
  The area of Dagestan has a varied climate with some areas semi-desert. About 13 percent of Russian wine is produced in the area around Stavropol which has 180-190 frost free days. The region of Rostov is characterized by its hot, dry summers and severe winters which produces grapes in lower yields than other parts of the country. Nevertheless Rostov is a region with a great diversity of atochtonous grape varieties which originally from the Don Valley including sunch az Tsimlyankskiy Tchernyi, Kumshatskiy, Krasnostop Zolotovskiy, Plechistik and others
caption: North Caucasus in Russia
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