Levan Mekhuzla is appointed as new head of National Wine Agency

23.09.2018 (Hvino News). National Wine Agency (NWA) announced that its new chairman is Mr. Levan Mekhuzla, who was appointed on September 21. Since April Mr. Mekhuzla has been deputy chairman of the NWA.

Levan Mekhuzla was born in 1975. He graduated from Agrarian University in 1997. In 2010 he got MA in Business Management from Tbilisi Free University. Prior to joining NWA in 2007, Mr. Mekhuzla worked at Bagrationi 1882 (company specializing in sparkling wines production), and Georgian Wine and Spirits Company (GWS).

Previous chairman of NWA Giorgi Samanishvili left the office in spring.

© Hvino News

The First Saperavi World Prize: RESULTS

Georgian wine exports to China declined due to excess supplies and high prices

22.09.2018. According to SakStat, in January-August 2018, wine in the amount of  $ 11.7 million was exported to China, while in the same period of 2017 – wine exports totaled $ 13.6 million. Obviously, Georgia sees a significant decline in exports. Zurab Ramazashvili, Director of Telavi Wine Cellar, says that exports to China have decreased, but too little time have passed to make far-reaching conclusions about the reasons.

"Our partners will give explanations in the coming months, but not earlier. There can be many reasons, including claims to quality, but it is more likely that the main problem is price," he  says.
Ramazashvili adds that despite this, the company will continue to operate on the Chinese market, and will try to eliminate the problems that caused the decline in exports as soon as possible.

Vaziani company’s sales  in  China have also decreased. According to its founder Irakli Iashvili, in comparison with 2017 the sales fell by 20-25%. "Our Chinese partners sell Georgian wine in an expensive segment that reduced the demand and the process raises concerns," he notes. In Iashvili’s words, it is difficult to specify  the exact reasons for what is happening, but most likely this is due to the stock growth and quality.

Chinese wine importers visit Georgia

by Thea Morrison

20.09.2018. Georgia’s National Wine Agency (NWA) reported that Debra Meiburg, chief of NWA's  contractor company Meiburg Wine Media, and a group of wine importers from China recently visited Georgia.

Meiburg reported that some of the members of the group are wine importers specialized in producing unique wine varieties and that past experience has shown that conducting such activities in Georgia is very successful.

“Georgian wine has moved from position 18 to position 9 on the China's wine market within the last four years. We are all very excited with the success of Georgian wine on the Asian wine market. Now it is our mission to promote Georgian wine not only among the wine importers but among the wine consumers as well. We will do our best to focus more on wine consumers' interests in Georgian wine," the NWA quoted Meiburg.

Within the wine tour, the guests were able to visit famous wine factories in Kartli and Kakheti: Chateau Mukhrani, Iago's Wine, Teleda/Orgo, Shumi Winery, Vaziani Winery, Kakhuri Gvinis Marani, GWS, Teliani Valley, Friends’ Cellar, Papari Valley, Badagoni, Pheasant's Tears, Vazisubani Estate and Lukasi Winery. They were also familiarized with the traditional qvevri wine-making process in Georgia.

A wine tasting was held in Tbilisi where over 100 varieties of wine of 27 different wine companies were presented.

The NWA says China is the third largest exporter of Georgian wine. Over  8 million bottles of Georgian wine were exported from Georgia to China within the last eight months.

Source

The First Saperavi World Prize: RESULTS

"Los Angeles Times" covers Georgian wine culture

John Henderson in Georgia

10.09.2018 (Hvino News). Los Angeles Times - a leading US newspaper - in a recent issue published an article focusing on Georgian wine, entitled "In Georgia, wine is a centuries-old tradition that has brought new appeal to the republic".

The article is authored by John Henderson, who visited Tbilisi and Telavi. He spent two weeks this summer in Georgia, at the eastern end of the Black Sea, and toured some of the 20 wineries around the capital of the Kakheti region.

He starts his text as follows: "It was known as the “Tuscany of the Soviet Union”... Everyone in the Soviet Union knew it, thanks to wine, the greatest gift the Republic of Georgia gave mankind. Wine was being produced south of Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, as early as 8,000 years ago... Throughout its history and its oppression, Georgia always had wine to fall back on. It became a form of expression when Georgians had none. And it was the main source of wine for Mother Russia, its neighbor. And since independence in 1991 and a Russian embargo in 1998, improved production and marketing have made Georgian wines among the trendiest in the world."

Georgian wines win 14 medals at MUNDUS VINI 2018 Summer Tasting

07.09.2018 (Hvino News). 14 Georgian wines have won top awards at prestigious competition Mundus Vini 2018 Summer Tasting, organized by German wine magazine publisher "Meininger Verlag". The competition is held twice a year: In summer and before the ProWein exhibition.

The summer awards were announced recently. Georgian wines won 8 gold and 6 silver medals. List of winners follows:

Gold:

2016 Marani Kondoli Vineyards Saperavi, JSC Telavi Wine Cellar (Best of Show Georgia)
2015 Satrapezo Saperavi, JSC Telavi Wine Cellar
2012 Marani Kondoli Vineyards Saperavi, JSC Telavi Wine Cellar
2016 Barbale Chinuri, Union Wine Invest
2015 Mukuzani, LTD Koncho & Co
2016 Saperavi Premium, LTD Koncho & Co
2017 Iberiuli Kisi, Wine Company Shumi
2014 Saperavi Family Reserve, Lukasi