Canada is home to the 3rd largest Ukrainian population worldwide, trailing only Ukraine itself and neighbouring Russia. Emigration from Ukraine to Canada began in the 1890s, with most settling in the prairie provinces, where the farmland was similar to the Ukrainian steppes.
Most of Alberta’s population of Ukrainian descent is centered in and around Edmonton, nearly 100,000 strong, with some smaller centres like Vegreville, home of the world’s 2nd-largest Ukrainian-styled Easter Egg, proudly proclaim nearly half of their residents to be Ukrainian-Canadians.
With so many familial ties to Ukraine here in Alberta, it is no surprise that our local businesses have been quick to raise funds and humanitarian assistance as Ukraine reels under invasion forces from Russia. Calgary-based Village Ice Cream, owned by a Ukrainian-Canadian family, raised more than $100k in a single day, which was a lot of ice cream cones for a chilly March day!
Several of our local Alberta craft brewers have partnered with the Pravda Brewery in Ukraine, which had to switch its production line from canning beer to producing Molotov cocktails for the war effort. A half-dozen or so of our local Alberta craft brewers, as well as hundreds more worldwide, have been producing traditional Ukrainian beer styles using recipes provided by the Pravda Brewery, with all proceeds going to humanitarian relief. Two batches have already been produced, and should be ready for bottling in the next week or so. Keep your eyes open for these specially marked brews from Big Rock, Half Hitch Brewing, Alley Kat, Analog Brewing, and many more.
Should beer not be your tipple of choice, Ukraine is famous for its vodka, with Krol Potato Vodka perhaps the most famous of the many brands that are widely available here in Alberta. Krol Potato Vodka has been produced since the 1790s, with the original recipes still in use. Potatoes were the original starch used for vodka production in the 8th century, but distillers eventually figured out that grains and even sugar beets could be used to save money, so potato-based vodkas are considered premium today.
I was a regular vodka drinker in the squandered days of my callow youth, with my untrained palate blissfully unaware of any distinguishing features between different vodka brands, thanks to the bartenders of the day using cheap well vodka drowned in sugary soda mixers. In the fullness of time, I came to appreciate the smoother flavour profiles of the top shelf vodkas, with Ukraine and Poland typically producing the best brands.
Believe it or not, Ukraine also has a domestic wine industry, and Alberta is one of the export markets! I picked up two different Ukrainian red wines at Co-op Wines & Spirits, which the cashier told me had been selling like hotcakes and unlikely to be replenished anytime soon. The Kolonist Odessa Black is made from a Ukrainian grape varietal called Odeskyi Chornyi, somewhat similar to a Merlot, with blackberry notes followed by a smoky finish from the oak aging.
In addition to native varietals, Ukraine also has the usual suspects like Merlot, Cab Sauv, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, and the other popular noble grapes under vine. Despite our populations being fairly similar sizes, Ukraine could fit into Canada 16 times over, yet Ukraine still manages to produce nearly 50% more wine than Canada, with most plantings near the northern shores of the Black Sea, which is about the same latitude as the Bordeaux wine region of France.
Sparkling whites make up nearly a third of Ukrainian wines, produced from mostly Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc grapes using the traditional French champenoise method. Most of the sparkling wines are consumed in the domestic market, and rarely make it outside of Eastern Europe.
Up until 2014, Ukraine wine production was mostly semi-sweet dessert wines grown on the Crimean Peninsula, which, in a tragic harbinger of things to come, was annexed by Russia in 2014. After losing nearly a million acres under vine, the Ukrainian wine industry shifted its focus to dry styles of French varietals that were more popular on world markets, which helped grow exports to Western Europe and North America.
Show your support for our Ukrainian brethren in their time of need by patronizing our many Ukrainian-Canadian businesses, or donate to humanitarian relief efforts at the Canadian Red Cross.
