Why this book, and why now

A drinking culture older, stranger, and more particular than even most Ukrainians knew.

There is a continuous viticultural memory on the northern Black Sea coast reaching back two and a half thousand years — Greek vines, monastery cellars, indigenous grapes that grow nowhere else, breweries older than the border. This book gives each its paragraph, its chapter, its producer a name. The war is in the book. The war is not the book.

◎

Wine is the surprise

Telti-Kuruk and Odesa Black, Bessarabian estates and Zakarpattia's Pannonian inflection, biodynamic projects south of Kyiv — the part of the country's drinking that most outsiders have never tasted.

✦

Beer is the volume

Lvivske since 1715, Obolon the national stalwart, the craft revolution, and Pravda — the Lviv brewery that turned its bottling line over to Molotov cocktails, then restarted its festival.

☽

Horilka is the heat

The word and the drink at the heart of every supra. Medovukha, nalyvka, samohon, a note on kvas, and the new wave of spirits worth knowing — horilka, never vodka.

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The table holds it all

None of these drinks make sense without the food. Pairing the Ukrainian table, the seven toasts, and the etiquette that turns a lunch into a four-hour ceremony.

How the book is built

Structured along the order of the toasts, in five parts.

WineThe surprise. History from the Greeks to Magarach, indigenous and international grapes, the regions, sparkling wine, and a full producer's atlas.

BeerThe volume. A tradition older than the border — Lvivske, Obolon, the industrial trio, the craft revolution, and the birth of Ukrainian Golden Ale.

III

Horilka, mead & liquid heritageThe heat. Horilka the word and the drink, medovukha and nalyvka and samohon, a note on kvas, and the new wave of craft spirits.

The tablePairing the Ukrainian table, dish by dish, plus drinking etiquette and the toast — the ceremony that organises everything else.

The traveler's companionWine roads and beer crawls, cellars and speakeasies, five drinking journeys mapped end to end, and a bottle to bring home.

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The reference shelfEight appendices: producer directory, festival and harvest calendar, a drinker's glossary, pronunciation guide, vintage notes, and practical notes for the road.

Inside the book

Thirty chapters, in five parts.

An expanded companion to the Ukraine Traveler's Guide. Read it through for the story, then carry it as reference — every time-sensitive line stamped as of April 2026, every transliteration Ukrainian, never Russian.

Part One — Wine

The grape on the steppe, the cellar on the cliff, the country in the glass

01How Ukraine Became a Wine Country: A Short History

02Wine, the Surprise Story

03The Indigenous Grapes

04International Varieties on Ukrainian Soil

05Bessarabia: The Wine Country at the Edge

06Zakarpattia: The Pannonian Inflection

07Mykolaiv and the Black Sea Coast

08Kyiv, Dnipro, and the Inland Wave

09Crimea and Kherson: A Heritage Interrupted

10Sparkling Wine and the Ghost of Artwinery

11A Producer's Atlas

Part Two — Beer

The everyday, the daily glass on the daily afternoon

12A Brewing Tradition Older Than the Border

13Lvivske 1715: The Heritage Brand

14Obolon and the National Stalwart

15AB InBev Efes and the Industrial Trio

16The Craft Revolution

17Pravda: The Brewery That Made Molotovs

18Varvar, Kumpel, MOVA, and the New Names

19Ukrainian Golden Ale: Birth of a Style

20The Wider Brewery Field

Part Three — Horilka, Mead, and Other Liquid Heritage

The spirit at the heart of every supra

21Horilka: The Word and the Drink

22Medovukha, Nalyvka, Samohon — and a Note on Kvas

23Spirits Worth Knowing: The New Wave

Part Four — The Table

None of these drinks make sense without the food

24Pairing the Ukrainian Table

25Drinking Etiquette and the Toast

Part Five — The Traveler's Companion

If the book has done its work, the reader will want to take it

26Wine Travel: Bessarabia Loop & Zakarpattia Wine Road

27Beer Travel: The Lviv Crawl, the Kyiv Crawl, the Festival

28Cellars, Bars, and Speakeasies

29Five Drinking Journeys

30A Bottle to Bring Home

+Eight appendices — directory, calendar, glossary, more

What you get

A book to read once and carry for years.

✓

The complete drinking cultureWine, beer, horilka, mead, and kvas — from indigenous grapes and Golden Ale to the spirits at the heart of every supra, each given room.

✓

A full producer's atlasEstates, breweries, and distilleries named and placed — the family chateaux, the wartime survivors, the new labels rebuilt two regions away.

✓

Five drinking journeys, mappedThe Bessarabia loop, the Zakarpattia wine road, the Lviv and Kyiv beer crawls — routes, cellars, and stays laid out day by day.

✓

The reference shelfProducer directory, harvest and festival calendar, a drinker's glossary, pronunciation guide, vintage notes 2018–2024, and practical road notes.

Launch offer

Get the full Vines & Vats.

All 30 chapters across 5 parts

Part One — Wine, with a producer's atlas

Part Two — Beer, from 1715 to Golden Ale

Part Three — Horilka, mead & liquid heritage

Part Four — pairing the Ukrainian table

Five drinking journeys, mapped end to end

8 appendices: directory, calendar, glossary

Lifetime updates, read once, carry for years

$39$78

One-time payment · Instant digital access after checkout · PDF, yours forever.

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Before you buy

Clear answers before checkout.

Is this a digital e-book?

Yes. It is a designed PDF you download instantly after checkout and keep forever — readable on phone, tablet, or computer.

Do I need the Ukraine Traveler's Guide first?

No. This is a standalone companion that expands the parent guide's seven pages on drink into a full book. It stands on its own, in the parent's voice, and reads start to finish.

Is the wartime information current?

Every time-sensitive line — routes, curfews, prices, vintages — is stamped as of April 2026. Because the country is moving, the book asks you to verify those specifics locally before you travel.

Is it only about wine?

No. Wine is Part One. The book gives equal weight to beer, horilka and mead, the food and the toasts, and a traveler's companion of routes, cellars, and five drinking journeys.