Massandra is the winery built by order of the former tsar of Russia to provide wine for his various palaces, one of which was located on the southern coast of Crimea. Massandra was officially opened in 1894.
Massandra has become world-famous for its outstanding dessert wines, Sherries, Port’s, Tokaj’s, Madeira, and many other splendid wines. They are made from grapes traditionally grown organically in the best vineyards that were taken possession of in the mid-1800s with the tsar’s power of attorney. Since wine had been produced on the southern coast of Crimea for 2,500 years, they knew exactly where the best plots were located.
“In August 2007, I was fortunate enough to visit Massandra, where I was spoiled with an extremely comprehensive sampling. We tasted across dozens of horizontals and verticals — over 90 wines going back as far as the late 1700s. There are not many places in the world where that is possible.”
— Frank Martell, director of fine and rare wine at Heritage Auctions
From the Russian revolution in mid-1917-1919, Massandra has always been 100% state-owned and given carte blanche to produce as they chose to get the best results.
Massandra gained worldwide renown mainly from 1990 onwards. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the auction house Sotheby’s had the opportunity to visit Massandra and request to organise an auction dedicated to the old wines that Massandra had stored since 1894. It included the old collection of wines and spirits of the last tsar, which were also stored in Massandra’s famous cellars.
The wines in our collection will keep very well for a very long time, (20, 30, 40 years, or sometimes even longer) but are already delicious and accessible. Several Michelin-starred restaurants have poured our wines with great appreciation.
If you want to buy our Massandra wines, or if you have general questions, please get in touch by sending an email to jan@massandrawine.org
On request, we will send you our price list or make an appointment for a tasting session.