Though neither are the darlings of the European political establishment, Russian Premier Vladimir Putin and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi seem to enjoy each other’s company quite a bit.
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During a visit to what is claimed to be the biggest wine collection in the world at the Massandra winery, Putin and his longtime friend tried a 1775 Jeres de la Frontera that was brought to Crimea by Count Mikhail Vorontsov, during the reign of Catherine the Great.
Crimea’s 100-year-old Massandra winery was Ukrainian state property before being nationalised by Russian Federation.
“This is one of the five bottles that constitute not only Massandra’s or Crimea’s heritage, but the heritage of all Ukrainian people”, Nazar Kholodnytsky, first deputy prosecutor for Crimea, told the Associated Press from exile in Kiev.
Director Yanina Pavlenko was reportedly the one who uncorked the bottle for Putin and Berlusconi. He said two bottles like that were auctioned off in London in 2001. Afterward, Mr Berlusconi introduced over a bottle to point out to the get together, and the director stated: “The yr 1891”.
Russian tv final week confirmed Mr Berlusconi and Mr Putin touring the vineyard, analyzing dust-covered bottles of wine.
Russian media cited by Radio Free Europe reported that Berlusconi asked if he could sample the wine during a tour of Massandra.
Massandra’s previous director Nikolay Boyko was sacked in February after Russian prosecutors filed fraud charges against him.
“Now she’s added one more crime to high treason”, Mr Kholodnytsky said.
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“A decision was issued to ban Italian citizen Silvio Berlusconi from getting into the territory of Ukraine during three years within the pursuits of preserving the safety of our nation”, the Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) stated. Ukrainian law requires two presidential decrees to allow the sale of a vintage wine.
