The 2019 Russian Law on Viticulture and Winemaking Nancho Nanchev1 1. Introduction; 2. The Course of the Legislative Process Related to the New Federal Law on Viticulture and Winemaking; 3. Distinctive Features of the Federal Law on Viticulture and Winemaking; 4. Conclusion. 1. INTRODUCTION The Mediterranean is flanked by two remarkable – although very different – European countries that have nothing in common unless the fact that they trace the limits of a charming realm. On the most western point, Portugal, which, even though is not bordered by the sea itself, has everything that makes it Mediterranean: the climate, landscape and heritage; it is Rome’s Atlantic façade at its best – unique and splendid –, and its olive groves combine with baroque and mediaeval monuments in a countryside of colours. On the opposite side, it is Russia, a whole continent on its own, which protracts the European civilisation 10.000 km to the East, on the backside of the globe, up to China, Japan and America. Russia’s southern frontier in Europe is washed by the Black sea, a peculiar Eastern antechamber of the Mediterranean that combines the North and the South in a pool of separate identity and significance. The culture and heritage on these shores stem from the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) with its Greek flavour and accidental fate. Since the time of the tsars, the Black seashores have been appreciated for their mild climate and their exoticism compared to the typical Nordic Russia appearance. Their specific importance was already well-known in the Antiquity, when numerous Greek settlements sustained unbroken links, for centuries, first with Aegean Greece and then with the medieval imperial Constantinople. Still, at that time, the Northern and Eastern Black seashores supplied valuable goods and had a strong and attractive appeal for the invaders. Vineyards with perfect Mediterranean aspect stood already on slopes overlooking the sea – the immense 1 Legal expert.
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