Little As It is, Do What You Can

I look forward to the U.S. wholesalers of Russian-made vodka cancelling their contracts with these appendages of war

It is hard to argue with the various retailers, restaurants, governors, and such who, in the wake of Russia’s cowardly and violent invasion of neighboring Ukraine, have removed Russian vodka and other Russian alcohol products from shelves. The problem is that there really are very few products to remove.

The most iconic “Russian” vodka product is Stolichnaya. But while the brand did originate in Russia, it is no longer a Russian product. Stolichnaya vodka is owned by Yuri Shfler, a man born in Russia but who has the company that controls the brand based in Luxembourg. Moreover, Stoli is produced in Latvia, a member of Nato.

In fact, the non-Russian owners of The Stoli Group have gone out of there way to emphasize they are not Russian owned:

“Damian McKinney, Stoli Group global CEO said about Stoli's origins: "With regard to us being Russian. We are absolutely NOT a Russian company, we are a global organization with a significant portfolio of spirits and wine brands from around the world."

The primary Russian-owned Vodka product in the U.S. is “Russian Standard”, a brand that doesn’t rank among the top vodka brands in the U.S. I suspect that the Russian Standard brand is about to take a huge hit in sales both in the U.S. and the rest of the world, with perhaps the exception of Belarus.

For wine drinkers looking to take that small step of boycotting a brand or product produced in the outlaw state of Russia, well, you are out of luck. Only a very tiny amount of Russian wine is imported into the U.S. and the fact is you aren’t drinking it anyway.

However, the U.S. wine industry does have a significant connection to Russia via Andre Tchelistcheff, the most consequential and influential winemaker in U.S. history. Tchelistcheff was the son of Russian nobles in Tsarist Russia during the early 20th century. However, the Russian Revolution and the Bolshevisk distate for nobility ended Andre’s charmed life. After fighting Bosheviks in the failed White Army, Tchelistcheff made his way to Napa Valley’s Beaulieu Vineyards via the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Tchelistcheff was responsible for the creation of that winery’s famed George de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet. More importantly, Tchelistcheff became a mentor to numerous important American winemakers who would go on to spread his influence themselves.

But no one is going to be boycotting anything produced by Beaulieu. Because…Well, that’s just too stupid to contemplate.

But what I am looking forward to are all the announcements by American wholesalers who distriute the likes of Russian Standard Vodka that they will be dropping their representation of this brand. Moreover, I expect retailers to take the stuff off their shelf.

If it’s not clear, I’m a supporter of the boycott as a form of expressing distaste for a company or product. The fact is, choosing who or what to support via our consumption is one of the only ways an individual can actually take action against a company or person or country. It is a small act to switch from drinking Russian-made vodka to some non-Russian brand, but it is an act nonetheless. Wholesalers, retailers, restaurants and consumers should all take the actions they can to wipe this brand off the face of the U.S. market.

This is in fact the very least we can do to express our outrage over the diabolical act by Russia of invading Ukraine. As I write this, Ukranian men and boys are making a valiant stand against a much more powerful and well equipped Russian army. Yet few people believe that resistence will last.

This kind of thing starts wider, larger wars that draw in even more countries and people. See WWI and WWII. It’s a very dangrous moment for the post-Cold War order and the peoples that adhere to that order. Yet there is no choice but to stand up to Russia and its dictator. For Americans, that means primarilly trusting that our leaders will do just that. But for individual Americans, there is little to do but boycott all things Russian. And we should.

Russia is broken country. Despite being located between China and the EU (two of the greatest consumer markets on the plant), Russia and its people can’t manage to export much more than energy, rocks, crappy machinery and violence. It’s a keptocracy layered upon oligarchy. If anyone ever questioned America’s long devotion to capitalism and the rule of law, all you have to do is look to Russia to see the alternative.

So, little as it may be, what you can.