wineit.ru: Expert sturgeon-caviar tasting at CAVIAR RUSSIA MOSCOW

A unique event took place on 14 August at CAVIAR RUSSIA MOSCOW, Globus Gourmet, TSUM, 2 Petrovka Street. An expert jury compared and selected the best sturgeon caviar in a blind tasting, allowing unbiased opinions. The set consisted of ten samples from different producers, regions and countries:

Raskat LLC granular sturgeon caviar, obtained from live fish.
Producer: Raskat LLC, Astrakhan, Russia. 2.

GORKUNOV Caviar House, traditionally harvested granular sturgeon caviar.
Producer: Sadki LLC, Smolensk Region, Russia. 3.

ADMIRAL HUSSO Original, traditionally harvested granular sturgeon caviar.
Producer: DG-CENTRE CJSC, Minsk Region, Belarus.

Chinese-produced caviar with unverified provenance. Chinese caviar is widely available on Russia's market; the sample was supplied by a company that packages Chinese sturgeon caviar.

RUSSIAN CAVIAR HOUSE CLASSIC, granular Siberian-sturgeon caviar obtained from live fish.
Producer: Diana LLC, Vologda Region, Russia.

RUSSIAN CAVIAR HOUSE IMPERIAL, traditionally harvested granular Siberian-sturgeon caviar.
Producer: Diana LLC, Vologda Region, Russia.

POLANCO Siberian Reserve, traditionally harvested granular sturgeon caviar.
Producer: Uruguay.

VOLGORECHENSKRYBKHOZ Premium sturgeon caviar, obtained from live fish.
Producer: Volgorechenskrybkhoz OJSC, Volgorechensk, Russia.

Sasuntsi David LLC, traditionally harvested granular sturgeon caviar.
Producer: Sasuntsi David LLC, Armavir Region, Armenia.

CRIMEA CAVIAR granular sturgeon caviar, obtained from live fish.
Producer: individual entrepreneur V. A. Zabolotny, Krasnoperekopsk, Republic of Crimea.

“The tasting aimed to demonstrate the diversity and variation in Russia's caviar market and encourage experts and consumers to choose caviar and producers responsibly,” says CAVIAR RUSSIA's press office. The jury included retail representatives, culinary experts, restaurateurs and journalists: Yulia Kolesova, deputy purchasing director at Stolichnaya Trading Company (Globus Gourmet); Patricia Kolari, culinary expert, blogger and EATWEEK.ru editor-in-chief; Vitaly Nikiforov, BURO TSUM manager; Anastasia Lyustina, founder and head of LeClick; Dmitry Akishkin, founder of LavkaLavka and FamilyFarmBurger; Lyudmila Volkova, head of Azbuka Vkusa's Ultra-Fresh department; Ekaterina Kiseleva, publisher of BONES chef magazine; and Marina Abudikhina, head of Gastroly.

Voting and scoring produced three winners:
• First place: ADMIRAL HUSSO traditionally harvested sturgeon caviar, Belarus.
• Second place: GORKUNOV traditionally harvested sturgeon caviar, Russia.
• Third place: SASUNTSI DAVID traditionally harvested sturgeon caviar, Armenia.

Chinese-produced caviar, widely available in Russia at a lower price, also performed reasonably well and was praised by several experts. However, its provenance and production details remain unclear and unregulated, with no guarantee of consistent quality. The article also warns that dishonest producers seeking low costs may add antibiotics and growth hormones to feed.

Wine-and-food resource on the blind sturgeon-caviar tasting at CAVIAR RUSSIA MOSCOW