The people of Ukraine and other republics of the Former Soviet Union are used to greeting New Year and celebrating weddings and other family holidays with a bottle of Soviet Champagne. For the Russians and Ukrainians sparkling fireworks of Champaign have become an indispensable attribute of any holiday. In contrast to world-famous expensive French champagne Russian "shampanskoye", which is used to be translated as "champagne" in English, is meant for the average customer, but it doesn't mean the poor quality of Russian sparkling wine. The well-known Ukrainian producer of champagne and sparkling wines, Kiev Champagne Winery, has been functioning for more than half a century, since 1949, when the State Winery was established according to the directive signed by Stalin. But in fact, the history of the winery goes back to the middle of the 19th century when William Richert decided to build a brewery in Syretskaya Street. Producing about 30,000 bottles of beer daily, Richert's Brewery was the first one of this kind in Kiev. But the remarkable brewery was devoured by the Revolution. The new Soviet government decided to transform the brewery into tinned food factory, which was considered to be more urgent for that time. In 1949 it was decided to establish the winery, and the new page of the Kiev State Winery history was started.