95 Russian Wines Disqualified from San Francisco Competition After U.S. Official’s Appeal

Russian wines were removed from the San Francisco International Wine Competition shortly before the results were announced, following an appeal by an unnamed U.S. elected official. The Association of Winegrowers and Winemakers of Russia (AVVR) reported on December 16 that it received a notice from the event’s organizers stating that all Russian entries had been disqualified. The final scores for these wines will not be made public.

According to AVVR, 95 Russian wines had been accepted into the competition and were already tasted by judges before the decision to remove them. This marked the first time such a large number of Russian wines participated in a U.S. competition of this scale, according to the association.

Some of the submitted wines came from wineries with high-profile connections. These included Divnomorskoye Estate and Krinitsa, both located at President Vladimir Putin’s palace complex in Gelendzhik, as well as Mezyb Estate, which is linked to Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Other entries were from Winepark, associated with Sberbank CEO German Gref; Derbent Vino, linked to former Russian Railways vice president Salman Babaev; and Myskhako, owned by Krasnodar regional lawmaker Alexei Sidyukov.

The wines were transported to the United States by AVVR’s deputy executive director Pavel Mayorov. He carried the bottles in his personal luggage through Qatar, Georgia, and the United Arab Emirates. The bottles had their Russian excise stamps covered with stickers reading “Not for sale” in Hebrew.

Since March 2022, multiple executive orders have banned the export of Russian alcoholic products to the United States. Additionally, imports of any goods from Crimea have been prohibited since Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014.

The removal of these wines comes amid ongoing tensions between Russia and Western countries over issues including Ukraine and Crimea. The San Francisco International Wine Competition has not commented publicly on the specific reasons for disqualification or on how it will handle future entries from Russia. The AVVR has expressed disappointment at the decision and said it will consider its options for future participation in international events.