You probably heard that Russia is very famous for doing weird things in its own way. Very often these ways are strange and unpredictable but also very irritating and discouraging when it comes to business. Finding a proper wine importer by yourself is never an easy task in Russia, especially if your winery is not among the top choices in Wine Spectator or the brand power is not as strong as for Baron Philippe de Rothschild or Concha y Toro, for instance.

So you’ve been reached out by a Russian wine importer or got a great email from your partner in Moscow asking to send wine samples for tastings. Don’t expect this would be a piece of cake and quit thinking about the common practices – they simple won’t work in Russia. Forget about the civilized ways like DHL, TNT or whatever other courier that you might possibly think of. The reason is simple – each wine bottle entering Russia (and now – the Commonwealth of Russia, Belarus and Kazakstan) must bear a special certificate and be registered in special regulating system called EGAIS. Do not try to understand EGAIS or how it works or why it is needed – because Russian politicians don’t understand it either. Let’s say it’s just the system to collect the moneys, big moneys, from those who produce vodka and other spirits. Imported wine is so miniscule in terms of total sales compared to vodka and beer that our politicians never even bother themselves: wine is officially equal to vodka in terms of regulations. It’s an alcoholic beverage and damn it if it isn’t!

But wait. There ARE ways to bring your wines to Russia and your possible partner will have a chance to taste your wines in Moscow. It’s just more expensive and complicated things. Here they are in brief.

1. Bring the bottles yourself. You might laugh at this phrase, but It’s an amazingly effective way. Especially if you travel with somebody – because in theory you cannot bring too many bottles in your suitcase (I heard different numbers, but usually 3-5 bottles are quite safe to carry, some of my friends managed to bring much more, like 10-15 bottles from Argentina in their suitcase – and it worked).Upon arrival you just walk the green corridor – for those who has nothing to declare. The only problem is that Russian customs sometimes «randomly» stops people to look through their luggage – especially if these people look “suspicious”. Anyway, don’t worry,  just don’t take all the wine you can with you. Note: wines you bring to Russia this way cannot work as official samples for the registration purposes – you can use them for tasting purposes only. The official samples of wine is something the wine importer should take care of himself and they usually needed at the final stage of your negotiations – when the contract is already signed and the importer will surely help you with this.
2. Use your country’s official and diplomatic channels and diplomatic mail which is usually not checked whatsoever. Some embassies and government-supported trade organizations might help you bring your several bottles with no big headache. You should also use them to collect information about the wine importers – it could give you better and more quality results that merely seeking internet and trying to translate websites in Russian.
3. Talk to Russian wine importers during the wine exhibitions like ProWein or LIWF, they know all the ways around.