Tetya Kapa, a Napa Valley vodka from Ukrainian-born “Dancing with the Stars” veteran Maksim Chmerkovskiy, debuts in New York this week at hotspots including Elsie Rooftop, Fresco by Scotto, and Avra.
The vodka is named for Chmerkovskiy’s favorite relative, Kapa. Tetya is Ukrainian for aunt.
“She taught me how to drink and not get drunk at the ripe age of 10 or 11 years old,” Chmerkovskiy said. “We grew up with that culture, constant celebrations, mournings, graduations, any kind of gathering was celebrated with shots of vodka, for health. I grew up in that culture. I didn’t see a glass of wine until my 20s.”
The spirit will be available throughout the tri-state area, including Brooklyn — where Chmerkovskiy landed at age 14 with his family in 1994.
It will be distributed by “Dozortsev & Sons,” owned by fellow Ukrainian Arty Dozortsev.
Chmerkovskiy got his start as a teenage dancer in Brighton Beach’s famed restaurants, like Ukraina, that offered “dinner and a show” to homesick ex-Soviet immigrants. He’d get $20 to $25 a show to perform with his partner, who would come to the restaurants after studying at a local yeshiva.
“That woke me up. I didn’t have to deliver newspapers, I could do something else,” said Chmerkovskiy, who has been a dancer and an entrepreneur ever since.
After performing on “DWTS” for 17 years, he left the show in 2014.
Chmerkovskiy co-founded the vodka brand with Arthur Hartunian, founder of Napa Valley Distillery, and Ian Devereux White in 2023.
Made without corn or sugar, using Sauvignon Blanc grapes, Tetya Kapa vodka took off with chef-led restaurants in Napa, including La Toque and Angele Restaurant & Bar.
“I’m very excited to return and introduce the product to New York,” Chmerkovskiy told Side Dish. “How we celebrate revolves around shots of vodka. This one we don’t have to sell, all people have to do is taste it, as it is very much a handmade product that you can sip, like a high end Mezcal, which is why a lot of the restaurants love it.”
A portion of the sales will also go to charities supporting Ukraine, including Baranova27, a charity that Chmerkovskiy founded with his father to help rebuild houses in Western Ukraine.
He lives in California with his wife, fellow “DWTS” alumnus Peta Murgatroyd, and their three kids — Milan, who turns one next month; Rio, who will be two this month, and Shai, who is eight.
Chmerkovskiy was in Kiev judging a dance show when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“The region was never very safe and while [Russia’s invasion] shocked the world, it wasn’t shocking to us or to anyone who knows history and the region. It was to be expected,” Chmerkovskiy said.
Being in Kiev when Russia invaded “was a tough experience,” Chmerkovskiy said. “I made a lot of friends there and I have a lot of empathy for people in Ukraine. It was hard to see.”
“Dancers,” he added, “we are a different type, if you will, and all of a sudden they were part of an army and went straight to the frontline. I’m not used to our type talking about anything other than cha-chas and sambas.”
Some dancers turned into soldiers and have since lost some of their limbs. He also knows families on both sides of the border — and says there is still so much “PTSD generationally in the region” from conflicts launched by Moscow that go back to the Soviet Union’s war in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
“It is unfortunate – very tragic. Ukraine is now dealing with and will have a whole generation who can’t forget, who are missing limbs,” Chmerkovskiy said. “Everyone I know [in Ukraine] is part of this army. It’s been very hard to watch and everyone I know has nothing to do with this lifestyle but had to pick up a weapon and be on the frontline. It’s crazy. There is so much trauma.”
