Russian government organisation questions quality of Georgian wine
Among the 15 wines with the lowest ratings, six were of Georgian origin of which one was produced in Russian occupied Georgian region of Abkhazia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Experts of the Russian government organisation Russian Quality System (Roskachestvo) have evaluated more than 120 wines from 13 countries in the price category up to 1,000 rubles on the shelves of Russian stores and the worst results in the study were shown by Georgia.
Among the 15 wines with the lowest ratings, six were of Georgian origin of which one was produced in Russian occupied Georgian region of Abkhazia.
Georgian wines with the lowest quality assessment were Kindzmarauli, Tsinandali, Saperavi, Kindzmarauli-Muzaradi and Kindzmarauli-Betaneli - all produced by Dugladze wine company.
In addition, the semi-sweet sparkling wine Lykhny produced in Abkhazia was also at the bottom of the rating.
Low marks were received by two wines from France and South Africa, as well as Argentine Mariposa Chardonnay.
The three outsiders in the sparkling wines category included the Spanish Platino Pink Moscato, Italian Asti Mondoro and another large international brand from the Asti sparkling wines category - Martini.
Over the years Russia’s state consumer protection agency, RosPotrebNadzor, has often claimed that Georgian wine fails to meet safety and quality requirements. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
The Russian Quality System explained that the study was carried out by a tasting commission of an accredited laboratory blindly: the experts did not know either wine brands or countries of origin and worked according to the internationally recognised tasting regulations, which had been repeatedly tested earlier in the Wine Guide of Russia project.
The wines for analysis were selected based on the results of the work of Roskachestvo analysts, who identified for each of the leading countries in wine imports to Russia, the most popular samples with a circulation of 183,000 to 11 million liters, which had entered Russian market over the past year.
Detailed results of the study will be published later in April.
Questioning the quality of Georgian wine has traditionally been followed by dramatic moments in Russian-Georgian relations.
After the protested visit of well-known Russian Journalist Vladimir Pozner, who has stated on multiple occasions that Abkhazia (Georgia’s Russian-occupied region) will never be Georgia’, Russian president’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov and Speaker of the Russian state legislature Viacheslav Volodin have stated that ‘visiting Georgia is dangerous for Russian citizens.’
Over the years Russia’s state consumer protection agency, RosPotrebNadzor, has often claimed that Georgian wine fails to meet safety and quality requirements.
In 2019, RosPotrebNadzor announced a 'strengthening of control' over alcoholic drinks imported from Georgia. In the announcement, which came on the heels of ongoing political tensions in Georgia following the presence of Russian State Duma MP Sergey Gavrilov in the Tbilisi parliament, the state organisation claimed it had traced a trend showing a worsening of quality of Georgian wine imported into Russia between 2014-2018.
In response to the protests which broke out then, Russian officials called for a boycott of Georgian resorts and trade goods in the wake of the protests.
In spring 2006 Russia imposed an embargo on Georgia wine, mineral waters and agriculture products. This was lifted six years’ later in 2012.
‘I wouldn’t do that out of respect for the Georgian people’
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he did not support a parliamentary call to impose tough economic sanctions on Georgia. Earlier today, the Russian parliament unanimously backed a resolution urging the government to draw up sanctions against Georgia, which included halting the import of wine and mineral waters from Georgia to the Russian Federation and putting in place a ban on remittances from Russia.
Russia's Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing has announced a "strengthening of control" over alcoholic drinks imported from Georgia, in a move reminiscent of a 2006 embargo on wine from the country.
The Russian market supervisory body Rospotrebnadzor is tightening control of alcoholic drinks imported from Georgia claiming that some products ‘do not meet the criteria’.
Russia is imposing an embargo on Georgian wine and tightening its trade with the country in response to Georgia’s support of European Union (EU) sanctions against Russia.
At the request of local wine companies, independent international organisations will be involved in the process of testing Georgian export wines from the end of May, announces head of the National Wine Agency of Georgia Levan Mekhuzla.