Crimea is a part of territory of Ukraine today it was known as a Russian Empire’s wine country and produced sparkling wines that were called Champaign in St Petersburg. It was taken under Russian control a few centuries ago from Turkey. Situated in the middle of Black Sea it has an ideal climate for wine production. There are other parts of Russia that produce wines and sparkling wines. In the beginning of 20^th century the Russian aristocracy was very fond of this type of drink. The Crimea sparkling wine has very pleasant taste and can compete with well-known brands. It was never properly marketed and only now is finding its place among wine aficionados. It is available in St Petersburg (5-25 Euro per bottle) but one needs to know where to find it.

Most tourists know about Russian vodka and think that Russians drink it like water. Not true. Russians like wines, sparkling wines, portwines, brandy (they call it con’yak). In fact Armenian brandy is absolutely a must for anyone who is fond of a potent grape drink. As many other goods it was poorly marketed and does not have a wide following but it is relatively inexpensive and wonderful. Some of this brandy is aged for 50 year and can be purchased for 20-50 Euro per bottle. The most popular are Noah and Ararat. They are not found in just in any store. One has to know where to look.

One can find a great variety of sweet jam preserves made of different types of berries. The distinct quality of them is their sweetness. They are made for tea drinking and in majority of cases are absolutely natural. The berries are boiled with the sugar and canned.

Souvenir sets for busy tourists delivered into their hand

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One-day shopping tour in St Petersburg