Georgian wine, long history and development of wine industry praised in US
In the first nine months of this year, more than half a million bottles of wine were exported to the United States from Georgia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Georgian wine was presented at Ghvino Forum of America, 2019 which recently took place in Boston, USA on October 27-29.
The programme of the three-day forum included a saperavi & qvevri wine festival, a qvevri symposium and trade tasting & seminar.
This year, as in 2018, the interest in Georgian wine is huge from scientific circles, also from wine experts and wine drinkers,” says the National Wine Agency of Georgia.
The special speaker at the qvevri symposium was professor of Pennsylvania Patrick McGovern whose research confirms that the first wine in the world was made in the territory of Georgia about 8,000 years ago.
20 Georgian wines were presented at the Saperavi & qvevri wine competition, while there were about 30 Georgian wines (winners of the International Qvevri Wine Competition 2019) were presented at Trade Tasting & Seminar.
The US is a strategic market for Georgian wines…where various important events, including the Georgian wine forum, are being held with the support of the National Wine Agency to promote Georgian wine and increase the export [of wine]. These events have already brought more sales and increased exports to [US] market,” said Chairman of the National Wine Agency Levan Mekhuzla.
In the first nine months of this year, more than half a million bottles of wine were exported to the United States from Georgia, which is a 60 percent increase compared to the same period of last year.
Georgia received 16% more in revenue from the export of wine in the first nine months of 2019 in comparison to the same period last year, the Georgian National Wine Agency reports.
The top three countries importing the most bottles of Georgian wine in 2019 are:
- Russia – 41,112,235 bottles
- Ukraine – 6,766,841 bottles
- China – 5,334,939 bottles
The Ghvino Forum of America, 2019 was organised by the Georgian Wine Association, the National Wine Agency and the America-Georgia Business Council.
Georgian qvevri wine producers are participating in the international artisan wine fair ‘Raw Wine’ currently taking place in New York, USA on October 27-28.
Liu Hui, the Chinese government’s special envoy to Eurasia says that the popularity of Georgian wine is increasing steadily in China, and “taking the situation into account, it is important for more wine to be exported to China from Georgia.”
The wine-making sector is giving new energy to job creation and strengthening Georgian business, announced Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia at a meeting with wine-makers earlier today.
Georgia received 16% more in revenue from the export of wine in the first nine months of 2019 in comparison to the same period last year, the Georgian National Wine Agency reports.
In January-October 2019, Georgia exported 75.6 million bottles of wine to 53 countries around the world, which is an increase of 11 per cent compared to the same period of last year, announces the National Wine Agency of Georgia.
Almost two dozen Georgian wine producers are presenting their spirits and wines at ProWine China international wine exhibition currently taking place in Shanghai, China on November 12-14.
Lonely Planet has published a wine guide book ‘Wine Trails: Europe’ which includes Georgia as a destination.