Wine, the cornerstone of Georgian culture
It supports the sense of celebration and hospitality at the centre of Georgian culture. The festival is consecrated during the memorable supras
, those famous banquets so important in the culture of the country. The wine is celebrated by the Tamadas, the great orators and conductors of these banquets, without whom the festival could not be celebrated. They punctuate these festive meals with toasts. Wine is of course celebrated there before being savoured. The Tamadas must make sure that the wine flows freely. According to UNESCO, the wine cellar is considered to be "the most sacred room in the home" in Georgia. In addition to the advanced winemaking techniques practiced in Georgia, "homemade" wine is also very popular. Families produce and consume their own wine, thus perpetuating a family winemaking tradition. It is not uncommon during your trip to visit the winemaking workshop of the hotel where you are staying, with the hotel owner making his own wine. Georgia has one of the highest wine consumption rates in the world, with 25 litres per person per year!A little history
A Georgian legend tells that when God distributed the Earth to the peoples of the world, the Georgians arrived late. God then asked them the reason. The Georgians confessed that they had stopped on the way to have a drink in his honour. Satisfied with this answer, God then gave them the Earth he had reserved for them.
Wine has been known in the country for 8,000 years. In the lands of present-day Georgia, it was already celebrated, as evidenced by the kvevri
, the famous jars in which wine was fermented, unearthed during archaeological excavations. Nowadays, this ancestral technique is more than ever topical.Homer, just as Xenophon and Strabon already evoked it, this famous Georgian wine already anchored in the vine culture of the ancient world! From the 4th century onwards, wine production gained in importance thanks to the advent of Christianity. The Church then became the first wine producer. The monasteries were in charge of its production, which was fundamental, given its impact on Christian liturgy. As holders of the know-how, they will be the specialists in oenology, through the centuries, until the Soviet invasion. This is how you will always see the vines surrounding the monasteries. Today, they still produce their own wine. A few Muslim invasions later, the latter having slowed down production, viniculture experienced a revival as early as the 16th century. New wine cellars, the marani
, came into operation and the country re-launched its wine trade.In the 19th century, the wine trade was given a new lease of life. Indeed, some aristocrats, following numerous trips to France, imported French wine-making know-how to their native country. The grapes were then pressed without the leaves, and the wine was no longer kept in kvevri
but in traditional barrels. The improvement of production techniques allowed Georgian wine to be awarded a medal at the 1889 World's Fair. The beverage was then at its peak. Under the Russian Empire, it was highly appreciated and was known as "wine of the court of the tsars". As a result, quantity took precedence over quality.In 1921 the young Georgian Republic was annexed by the Soviets. Not only was it a tragedy for the country, but the quality of the wine suffered the consequences. Expropriations, nationalizations, disorganizations of production, wine is then produced intensively. It is no longer considered as "alcohol". In 1986, the dry law promulgated by Gorbachev imposes the massive uprooting of several thousand healthy vines.
After the civil wars, Georgia once again became a stable country. In 1998, the wine sector, now placed under the Ministry of Agriculture, in the Department of Vine and Wine, became a national priority. Wine regions are categorized and a national list of grape varieties is drawn up. In 2006, Russia imposed an embargo on Georgian wine imports, which was later lifted in 2013. This was an economic disaster on the spot, but a huge leap forward for Georgia. Indeed, the disappearance of their biggest customer has pushed Georgian winegrowers to bet on the quality of their wine and to turn to other markets. What was called "the wine of freedom" will probably soon overshadow the greatest international vintages.The various wine regions
The Georgian climate is ideal for wine production. The Caucasus mountains protect the country from the icy winds from Siberia, while the Black Sea brings softness and humidity. A wide variety of soils and climates allow for a wide variety of wines.
In contrast to the Soviet era, winegrowers now give priority to quality over quantity, carefully selecting the quality of the soil and the location. Georgia now has 18 appellations of controlled origin, ranging from 75% white wine to 25% red wine.Ten wine regions
East Georgia
In the east of the country, separated from the western part by the Likhi mountain range, eastern Georgia, which enjoys a continental climate, produces mainly red wine.
Kakhetia enjoys a warm and relatively dry climate in the South Caucasus and is home to the majority of vineyards. Karthli is a very old wine region where princes produced great wines. These areas bring together the most prestigious appellations and the wines of the most famous grape varieties. The dominant grape variety is the famous saperavi, with its ruby colour and full-bodied flavours. The region provides 75% of the wine production. The wines are tannic, very colourful, aromatic and very structured. As oenologist Giorgi Samanishvili explains, we have the Lori Valley, which is the stronghold of the famous white wine AOC manavi, made with the mtsvane grape variety. The vineyards are located between 600 m and 800 m above sea level; the right bank of the Alavani river is home to the famous mukuzani, a red wine made from the saperavi grape variety. The vines climb between 300 and 750 m. There is also the famous tsinandali white wine of the rkatitseli and mstvane grape varieties, as well as the rkatsiteli wine variety, which is the most renowned. On the left bank of the river, at the foot of the Caucasus, the vineyards, between 200 and 600 m, give birth to the Napareulis appellations, white and red wines, made from the saperavi grape varieties. Finally, the kidzmarauli originates from the saperavi grape variety.
Western Georgia
With a warmer and wetter climate, benefiting from an almost subtropical climate, the west is the stronghold of white wine. Rkatsiteli is produced here. The centre of the country produces both white and red, aromatic and livelier wines.
80% of the wine is produced east of Tbilisi, in Kakhetia. Winemakers produce all kinds of wines, from dry to sweet, white wine, red wine, rosé, dry
...Amber wine (wrongly called orange) is characteristic. It gets its colour from the long maceration of the skins, tannin and pips in the kvevri
. This gives a complex and 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 associated with the Georgians. New wines have been created such as saperavi with cabernet sauvignon and rkatsiteli with chardonnay. In 2018, 86.2 million bottles were exported to 53 countries. Its vineyard, which is estimated at 48,000 ha, places the country in the top twenty world producers. It produces 1.2 million hectolitres of wine per year. A top-of-the-range vineyard is increasingly being developed for export. Producing high quality wine, such as napareuli considered exceptional, is one of the current objectives. Georgia has serious assets to compete with the great wine-producing nations. So get ready to drink exceptional wines!
