Ukrainian winemakers visit California’s Napa Valley to learn how to heal war-ravaged vineyards

RUTHERFORD, Calif. (AP) — As the head of an association of winemakers in southern Ukraine, Georgiy Molchanov knows a lot about how to cultivate grapes; not so much how to grow them amid undetonated mines.

But that was the situation he found himself in after a Russian rocket dropped the explosives on his vineyard near the port city of Mykolaiv in August 2022, six months after Russia invaded. The damage — and danger — the mines brought to his business marked one of the myriad catastrophic effects the more than 2-year-old war has had on the eastern European country.

Now, thanks to the combined efforts of the international nonprofit organization Roots of Peace, Rotary International, and the Grgich Hills Estate winery in Napa Valley, Molchanov is taking the steps he needs to reclaim and heal his wounded land.

First, Roots of Peace and Rotary International provided him with the expertise and supplies he needed to safely detonate the mines. Then, the groups teamed up to bring him and five other Ukrainian winemakers to Grgich Hills in Rutherford. During a weeklong stay here, they learned about regenerative organic farming, an agricultural method that prioritizes soil health and ecosystem balance.

“We are discussing how to bring nature, how to bring wines, not harm… into this land,” said Molchanov, who heads the Association of Craft Winemakers in Ukraine’s Black Sea region.

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