(WSJ) - Not long ago, wine was mostly seen as a luxury import in Russia. The country’s oligarchs bought European vineyards, and Moscow’s newly wealthy learned to savor French Cabernets and Tuscan reds at elite restaurants.

But as tensions between Russia and the West persist, drinking wine has been transformed into a patriotic act.

Russian wine production—on the wane before the Ukrainian conflict—jumped nearly 25% in 2015 from the year before, according to Russian market research group Ciffra, and vintners say it is on the rise again this year. Leading Russian business figures are investing in vineyards at home. And Russian oenophiles boast that their wines, once deemed inferior to their European counterparts, are winning over new drinkers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin imposed a ban on the import of Western delicacies in 2014, after Washington and Brussels imposed economic sanctions over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea. Though the counter-sanctions never applied to wine, they unexpectedly boosted the country’s vintners as they spurred interest in locally and nationally produced goods.