Bisso Atanassov, longstanding purple pager who was for long based in Moscow but who is now studying for a master's degree in viticulture and oenology in Montpellier, sends this report on how the global financial crisis is affecting the wine trade in Russia. Not much for some oligarchs, it would seem, while it will be some time perhaps before Russia has a fully functioning appellation system.
The global financial crisis could hardly pass unnoticed in Russia and was bound to affect its wine market, quite fragile as it is, and still in the growing phase. In two words the current...