Wine, the cornerstone of Georgian culture
It complements the sense of celebration and hospitality at the heart of Georgian culture. Festivities are celebrated at the memorable supras, the famous banquets so important to the country's culture. Wine is celebrated by the Tamadas, the great orators and conductors of these banquets, without whom the festivities would not be possible. They punctuate these festive meals with toasts. The wine is of course celebrated before being savoured. The Tamadas must ensure that the wine flows freely.
According to UNESCO, the wine cellar is considered "the most sacred room in the Georgian home". Alongside Georgia's cutting-edge winemaking techniques, homemade wine is also very popular. Families produce and consume their own wine, perpetuating a tradition of family winemaking. It's not uncommon to visit the winemaking workshop of the hotel where you're staying, as the hotelier makes his own wine. Georgia has one of the highest wine consumption rates in the world, with 25 L per person per year!
A little history
Georgian legend has it that when God distributed the Earth to the peoples of the world, the Georgians were late in arriving. God asked them why. They confessed that they had stopped on the way to have a drink in His honor. Satisfied with their response, God gave them the land he had reserved for himself.
Wine has been known in this country for 8,000 years. In present-day Georgia, it was already celebrated, as witnessed by the kvevri, the famous jars in which wine fermented, unearthed during archaeological digs. Today, this ancestral technique is more relevant than ever.
Homer, Xenophon and Strabo all mentioned the famous Georgian wine, which was already an integral part of the ancient world's wine culture! From the 4th century onwards, wine production gained in importance with the advent of Christianity. The Church became the leading wine producer. Monasteries were in charge of wine production, which was fundamental to Christian liturgy. As holders of the know-how, they were the specialists in oenology through the centuries, right up to the Soviet invasion. That's why you'll still see the vines surrounding the monasteries. Today, they still produce their own wine. A few Muslim invasions later, the latter having slowed production, winegrowing was revived in the 16th century. New cellars, the marani, came into operation and the country's wine trade was revived.
In the 19th century, the wine trade was given a new lease of life. Indeed, a number of aristocrats, following numerous trips to France, imported French winemaking know-how into their homeland. Grapes were pressed without the leaves, and wine was stored in traditional barrels rather than in kvevri. Improved production techniques enabled Georgian wine to win medals at the 1889 Universal Exhibition. The beverage reached a veritable apogee. Under the Russian Empire, it was so highly prized that it became known as the "wine of the Tsar's court". As a result, quantity took precedence over quality.
In 1921, the young Georgian Republic was annexed by the Soviets. Not only was this a tragedy for the country, but the quality of the wine suffered as well. Expropriations, nationalizations, disorganization of production: wine was intensively produced. It was now considered nothing more than "alcohol". In 1986, Gorbachev's dry law forced the mass grubbing-up of several thousand healthy vines.
After the civil wars, Georgia once again became a stable country. In 1998, the wine sector, now under the Ministry of Agriculture's Department of Grapes and Wine, became a national priority. Wine-growing regions were categorized, and a national list of grape varieties was drawn up. In 2006, Russia imposed an embargo on Georgian wine imports, which was lifted in 2013. An economic disaster at the time, but a huge step forward for Georgia. Indeed, the disappearance of their biggest customer prompted Georgian winemakers to focus on the quality of their wine and turn to other markets. What has come to be known as "freedom wine" will no doubt soon be overshadowing the finest international crus.
The various wine regions
Georgia's climate is ideal for wine production. The Caucasus mountains protect the country from the icy winds blowing in from Siberia, while the Black Sea provides mildness and humidity. A wide variety of soils and climates make for a wide variety of wines.
In contrast to the Soviet era, winegrowers now prefer quality to quantity, carefully selecting the quality of soil and location. Georgia now has 29 appellations d'origine contrôlée for its wines.
Ten wine regions
East Georgia
In the east of the country, separated from the west by the Likhi mountain range, East Georgia enjoys a continental climate and produces mainly red wine.
Kakhetia enjoys a warm, relatively dry climate in the southern Caucasus, and is home to most of the region's vineyards. Karthli is a very old wine-growing region, where princes used to make great wines. These areas are home to the most prestigious appellations and the most famous grape varieties. The dominant grape variety is the famous saperavi, with its ruby color and full-bodied flavor. The region accounts for 75% of wine production. The wines are tannic, highly colored, aromatic and well-structured. As oenologist Giorgi Samanishvili explains, we have the Lori Valley, home of the famous AOC Manavi white wine, made with the mtsvane grape variety. The vines are planted between 600 m and 800 m above sea level; on the right bank of the Alavani, we find the famous mukuzani appellations, a red wine made from the saperavi grape. Vineyards climb between 300 and 750 m. There's also the famous tsinandali white wine made from the rkatitseli and mstvane grape varieties, as well as the best-known rkatsiteli wine variety. On the left bank of the river, at the foot of the Caucasus, vineyards between 200 and 600 m give rise to the napareulis appellations, white and red wines made from saperavi grapes. Finally, kidzmarauli originates from the saperavi grape.
Western Georgia
With its warmer, wetter climate and almost subtropical climate, the west is the stronghold of white wine. This is where rkatsiteli is produced. The center of the country produces both white and red wines, aromatic and livelier.
80% of wine is produced east of Tbilisi, in Kakhetia. Winegrowers produce all kinds of wines, from bubbly, dry to sweet, white, red, rosé, dry..
The amber wine (wrongly called orange) is characteristic. Its color comes from the long maceration of skins, tannins and seeds in the kvevri. The result is a complex, aromatic wine. Among the 543 grape varieties, the best-known are saperavi, the most famous for red, rkatsiteli for white, and mtsvane, green. Finally, European grape varieties have been combined with Georgian ones. New wines have been created, such as saperavi with cabernet sauvignon, and rkatsiteli with chardonnay.
In 2023, 89.5 million liters of wine were exported to 66 countries. Its vineyards, estimated at over 50,000 ha, place the country among the world's top twenty producers. It produces 1.8 million hectolitres of wine a year. We are increasingly developing a high-end vineyard for export. Producing high-quality wine, such as the exceptional Napareuli, is one of the current objectives. Georgia has what it takes to compete with the great wine-producing nations. So get ready to drink some exceptional wines!
