British experts support Georgian wines gain access to UK markets

Famous wine experts and consultants from the United Kingdom (UK) are paying an official visit to Georgia in order to help the country bring its sparkling and rose wines to the UK.

During the two-day seminar in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, Master of Wine (MW) Sarah Abbott and wine writer Robert Joseph discussed a strategic plan for Georgian wines to access the UK market together with 35 local wine companies.

Organised by the National Wine Agency of Georgia, the seminar aimed at finding solutions for establishing Georgian wines on the UK market and boosting sales volume.

The strategy of the National Wine Agency is to diversify the wine market and we do our best to achieve this goal on various markets, especially on the stable and sustainable ones such as the UK. [The invited wine experts] have special knowledge of the UK market and their practical advice and recommendations can save financial and temporal resources of [Georgian wine] companies”, said deputy head of National Wine Agency Andro Aslanishvili.

During the seminar, Georgian winemakers were initiated into the more complicated aspects of the UK wine market, what it has to offer foreign winemakers and what they need to bring their wines onto this significant market.

Seminar was organised by the National Wine Agency of Georgia. Photo by Wines of Georgia.

As wine experts and consultants our goal was to deepen our understanding of the needs, styles and the diversity of Georgian winemaking. Georgian wine is still a niche product on the UK market. There are a small number of very ardent fans, for example Georgians and Russians, who are living in the UK and they love Georgian wine for which they have great respect and affection’, Abbott later said about the event.

There is another sector of wine-lovers for Georgia - the younger generation, who are looking for new and different products. They are attracted by Georgian organic and earthy production methods, such as the use of qvevri as well as Georgia's unique grape varieties, particularly Saperavi”, she added.

Robert Joseph said he was glad to see large, small and new wine companies working together to build Georgia’s reputation as a wine country and conquer new markets.

It will not be easy to introduce anything new to [the UK] market, it is always challenging, but there are people in the UK, particularly amongst the younger generations, who are looking for new experiences. I think Georgia can offer some of these new experiences”, Joseph said.

Within the seminar there was also a wine tasting event where people tasted some of Georgian wines. Photo by Wines of Georgia. 

During the seminar Georgian wine producers had the opportunity to consult with the British wine professionals on innovative strategies concerning the popularisation of Georgian sparkling wine and rose wine, to learn more about the UK wine market and pricing policy.

Within the marketing strategy of the National Wine Agency of Georgia, Georgian companies participate in different exhibitions and wine tasting events in UK. Furthermore, wine tours are organised in Georgia for English wine professionals.

The aim of these activities is to increase the popularity of Georgian wine in London – a city widely considered the trend-setter for wine tastes in the country.

Nearly 98,000 bottles of Georgian wine were exported to UK last year – 28 percent higher than the same indicators for 2015.

14,000 bottles of wine were exported to the UK from Georgia in January, which is a 113 percent increase year-on-year.