Dva Romana (В2Р)

When Russia’s Top 100 Wines ranking placed a winery producing just 5,000 bottles annually at #31 nationally, it validated an unusual business model: two successful professionals funding premium winemaking through their day jobs rather than seeking investors. Dva Romana’s founders call their operation a “nano-winery” without irony—the forced scarcity of hand-sealed, 1,000-bottle batches is the strategy, not the limitation.

The Economics of Deliberate Smallness

Most winemaking economics assume scale. Industry wisdom suggests 50,000 bottles annually as the minimum for standalone viability. Dva Romana produces one-tenth that volume and charges triple the average Russian wine price.

The math works through deliberate constraint: no staff costs (founders do everything), no marketing department (story sells itself), no distribution margins (direct sales and specialty retailers only), and primary career incomes that eliminate pressure for the winery to cover mortgages. Estimated annual revenue of ₽10-13 million from 5,000 bottles priced at ₽2,000-2,690 each represents healthy margins for a passion project—margins that would disappear instantly if scale demanded employees, warehouses, or sales teams.

At those prices for wines produced in batches of 120 to 1,500 bottles, scarcity creates its own justification. Customers aren’t buying wine; they’re buying access to something that cannot scale. Individual bottles represent a weekend’s work by two professionals who chose craft over convenience.

The founders describe their operation as “более ремеслом, чем производством”—more craft than manufacturing. The phrase isn’t marketing copy; it’s an accurate description of their business model’s fundamental economics.

Wine Village: Infrastructure for Dreams

The winery’s existence depends on infrastructure that didn’t exist a decade ago. Wine Village—formally SPK “1st Winemaking Cooperative”—opened in 2014 near the village of Gostageevskaya in Krasnodar Krai’s Anapa district, founded by entrepreneur Gennady Oparin specifically to support artisanal wine producers.

The cooperative model solved the capital problem that defeats most wine aspirations. Shared equipment, consolidated administrative support, collective licensing expertise, and community knowledge lowered barriers for passionate amateurs willing to learn formally. By 2024, over 50 member wineries operated within the cooperative’s framework—a cluster of small producers creating a micro-terroir movement that draws oenotourists to what was previously agricultural anonymity.

For two friends with demanding professional careers and limited capital, Wine Village offered something rare: the ability to start small, fail safely, and learn incrementally without betting everything on an uncertain passion. The pre-mountainous landscape of the Shkuratka River valley, with its clay and stony soils rich in limestone and marl, provided terroir. The cooperative provided everything else needed to transform amateur enthusiasm into licensed commercial production.

From Consumer Passion to Producer Reality

Roman Bulanyi and Roman Mishchenko were always interested in wine as consumers—the kind of enthusiasts who could spend entire weekends debating fermentation temperatures, soil composition, and proper trellis heights. The question was whether their passion could survive the transition from consumption to production.

In 2016, they answered that question by planting their first vines on a 2-hectare plot within Wine Village while simultaneously enrolling in Kuban State Agrarian University’s winemaking program. The decision to pursue formal education while maintaining demanding careers—Mishchenko as a bankruptcy lawyer, Bulanyi as a construction engineer—revealed their methodical approach. They would learn the science, not just the romance.

The combination of formal education and hands-on experimentation created a learning laboratory where failure cost only weekends, not careers. First vintages between 2017 and 2019 produced modest volumes—some batches as small as 120 bottles—but established the production philosophy that would distinguish the winery: every process manual, every shortcut rejected.

Two Romans, Complementary Skills

The partnership’s success derives partly from genuinely complementary professional backgrounds. Mishchenko, the bankruptcy lawyer, understands exactly how businesses fail. His daily work involves dissecting corporate collapses—over-leveraging, premature scaling, dependence on external capital that comes with strings attached. At the vineyard, he applies that knowledge in reverse, structuring their venture to avoid the common traps.

Bulanyi, the construction engineer, brings systems thinking and project management discipline. Vineyard layout, equipment placement, production flow optimization—these are engineering problems dressed in agricultural clothes. When harvest season demands that two weekend workers process thousands of kilograms of grapes “практически круглосуточно” (practically around the clock), engineering efficiency makes the difference between chaos and craft.

Neither founder dominates the public face of the winery. Their website and social media present them as a unit—“we” rather than “I,” shared decisions rather than individual vision. This deliberate parity extends to their production philosophy: no winemaker is hired, no consultant retained. The wines reflect two minds reaching consensus, not a single palate imposing preferences.

The Production Philosophy

The winery’s approach to production reflects a specific philosophy: “Масштабы проекта предопределили его концепцию: максимальное личное участие во всех процессах”—the scale of the project predetermined its concept: maximum personal involvement in all processes.

Every step is manual. Hand-harvested grapes undergo cold maceration before stainless steel fermentation. Six months of aging on fine lees with regular bâtonnage develops complexity without oak influence. Six additional months of bottle aging precedes release. Hand-bottling and the signature wax seals—pressed by the founders themselves—complete each batch.

“Особых секретов производства у нас практически нет,” Mishchenko has noted—“We have practically no special production secrets.” The main secret, he explains, is simply high-quality grapes and careful vineyard cultivation techniques. The statement reflects their methodical approach: substance over mystique, craft over marketing, consistency over drama.

The varietals planted are exclusively European: Riesling (Rhein), Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay in whites; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc in reds. No indigenous Russian varieties, no experiments in obscure grapes—just proven varietals executed with attention to detail.

Building Recognition Without Scale

The 2020 farmer’s license permitted production of up to 65,000 bottles annually. The founders chose to produce 5,000. That intentional ceiling—operating at less than 8% of legal capacity—defines the brand’s market position.

Russia’s “My Business” entrepreneurship program provided government support for small producers, validating the model’s legitimacy without requiring the growth that would destroy its appeal. By 2022, the harvest had grown to 10,383 kilograms of grapes—1.5 times the previous year—achieving the stable production volume that would finally attract national attention.

The 2023 TOP100WINES ranking placed their Sauvignon Blanc 2022 at position #31 with a score of 90.2 points. For a winery measured in thousands rather than tens of thousands of bottles, the recognition demonstrated that craft positioning and quality could coexist without industrial scale.

Subsequent recognition arrived steadily: finalist status in 2024’s competition, inclusion in the first Vinnaya Karta Rossii professional restaurant guide published by GWTO, and multiple wines listed in Roskachestvo’s “best Russian white wines, medium price segment” category. The sparkling wine license obtained in 2023 enabled Pétillant Naturel production, adding effervescence to a lineup already distinguished by its freshness and food-pairing versatility.

The Trademark Crisis That Improved Everything

The original name—Vinodelnaya Romanov—faced trademark rejection in 2024, likely due to association with Russia’s imperial dynasty. What could have been a setback became a narrative gift.

Without trademark protection, the brand couldn’t be legally defended. Years of name recognition built through festivals, retailer relationships, and word-of-mouth recommendations were suddenly at risk. The crisis demanded creative response rather than legal appeal.

The rebrand to В2Р (an abbreviation of “Винодельня Двух Романов”—Winery of Two Romans) arrived in early 2025 alongside the brand’s highest recognition: Best Semi-Dry Rosé in Roskachestvo’s national Wine Guide of Russia. The new identity made the founders’ story explicit—two friends sharing a first name, combining lawyer and engineer perspectives, building something neither could create alone.

The logo now features two Cyrillic Р’s forming vine tendrils, a visual pun that captures the partnership’s essence better than the rejected name ever could. What began as a regulatory obstacle became a branding improvement.

Portfolio and Position

The wine portfolio reflects the cooperative’s terroir—the Mediterranean-influenced climate of the northern Caucasus foothills, where Black Sea proximity moderates temperature extremes.

Still wines dominate the lineup. The Sauvignon Blanc that earned TOP100WINES recognition showcases the signature light, fresh, gastronomic profile the founders developed through years of experimentation. Chardonnay and Riesling complete the white portfolio. Reds include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc—classic Bordeaux varietals adapted to local conditions.

Distribution reaches Moscow-area specialty retailers—VINO.RU, Wine Republic, KrymWine, WineHelp, VVineBar—plus regional HoReCa establishments and wine festivals. No export market exists; the volumes wouldn’t support international logistics, and the domestic premium positioning serves the brand’s narrative better than distant markets ever could.

What Non-Scaling Achieves

Expansion plans exist—possible additional land near Krasnodar for wines of “different stylistics”—but notably exclude any timeline for the founders leaving their primary careers. The weekend commitment that started as necessity has become conviction.

Dva Romana proves that some business models succeed by refusing conventional wisdom about growth. The constraints aren’t obstacles to overcome but features to protect: tiny batches that enable hand-processing, premium prices that fund continued experimentation, and professional incomes that eliminate the desperation that leads most craft ventures to compromise.

The registered business structure—a КФХ (Peasant Farm Enterprise) under Bulanyi’s name—remains deliberately simple. No outside investment has been sought or accepted. The “My Business” government support validated the model without creating obligations. Every decision about the winery’s future remains in the founders’ hands.

For investors seeking the next scalable wine venture, В2Р offers nothing. For those studying how passion projects can achieve excellence without sacrificing the stability that makes them sustainable, it offers a complete blueprint—proof that the choice between “quit everything” and “never try” sometimes has a third answer.

Last updated: March 15, 2026