Bruce Schneider, Founder of Vyno Ukrainy, traveled to Ukraine in 2019 to visit, Pereiaslav, the city where his maternal grandparents were born, 100 kilometers South of Kyiv, to learn about his family history. He knew nothing about Ukrainian wine at the time, but was pleasantly surprised to discover a rapidly changing and dynamic industry led by young and innovative winemakers. His visit to a wine bar in Kyiv, co-founded by Sergiy Klimov, Ukrainian wine expert and author of The Untold Story of Ukrainian Winemaking, provided the initial spark for the project. Vyno Ukrainy is dedicated to introducing the U.S. market to the rich history and diversity of wine growers, regions, and grape varieties in Ukraine.

Bruce Schneider represents the third generation in his family to work in the wine industry. His introduction to winemaking came, at the age of 17, during apprenticeships in Burgundy with Francois Mikulski and Becky Wasserman. Over the past 30 years he has specialized in Cabernet Franc from New York (Schneider Vineyards & Onabay), co-founded Gotham Project, the leader in zero waste wine on tap, and has helped raise the profile in the U.S. of several wine producing countries, including Germany, Chile, and Portugal.