"The Japan Times" on Pheasant’s Tears and Georgia’s wine tradition

By Melinda Joe

24.11.2018. On a summer evening in 2006, John Wurdeman was painting a landscape in the region of Kakheti, in eastern Georgia, when a man driving by on a tractor invited him to dinner.

Gela Patalishvili was an eighth-generation winemaker and he told Wurdeman, an American artist and musician who had settled in Georgia, that he wanted to give him a few rows of vines in his family’s vineyard. Wurdeman declined both offers, but Patalishvili persisted. A few months later he accepted the dinner invitation, having grown curious about the tenacious stranger.

“At this point, I didn’t know if I liked him or hated him,” he jokes.

After tasting Patalishvili’s wine, however, those feelings of ambivalence quickly turned to admiration, and their friendship blossomed into a partnership that has become one of Georgia’s most acclaimed wineries, Pheasant’s Tears.

Winners of “Georgia – Homeland of Wine" wines and spirits contest announced

13.11.2018 (Hvino News). International competition of wines and spirits EAWSC  “Georgia – Homeland of Wine" was held under the patronage of OIV, in accordance with strict rules of international wine contests. The contest was organized by the Oenologists Union of Georgia. The international operator of the competition was the Moldovan company PPE, the owner of the brand "Eurasia Wine & Spirits Competition".

The competition was attended by companies from Russia, Moldova, Georgia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, Israel, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan. In total 202 samples have been presented.

According to the results of the contest, 58 awards were awarded: one medal "Grand Prix", 3 Great Gold medals, 31 Gold Medals, 23 Silver Medals.

The Grand Prix Medal was awarded to the Moldovan brandy Divin "Imperiul călărași" (50 years), earning 96.9 points.

Three gold medals "Great Gold" were awarded to the wines of companies Vazi+ , Götz Winery and Wine Company Shumi.

Another "first" Saperavi wine contest?

01.11.2018 (Hvino News) Georgian Wine Association (GWA) and National Wine Agency announced that "Saperavi's first international competition will be held on December 15-17 of the current year". The competition is supported by the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture and the National Wine Agency. The head of the jury is a well-known British journalist and wine writer Andrew Jefford.

Hvino News, who organized the first international Saperavi contest "Saperavi World Prize" in 2017 (SapPrize 2017), is receiving letters from our readers and SapPrize contestants, who are surprised about GWA's statement claiming priority in organizing a Saperavi wines contest. In this connection, SapPrize organizing committee informed GWA as well as its member companies that it considers GWA's statement as misleading.

"In general, we do not mind that someone else is using our idea, as long as it is done in a civilized way, and not for profit. But by claiming priority GWA is making a mistake, since the first Saperavi international contest is a historical fact, and its huge success is well documented by wide international media and television coverage", - said Inge Olsson, representative of SapPrize. "We are concerned about the reputational risks which this irresponsible behavior may cause".