Georgian Wine - National Wine Agency

The Committee on Agrarian Issues held a meeting in Bolnisi today, chaired by Nino Tsilosani, Head of the Committee, during which the report of the National Wine Agency on   2020 activities was discussed.
The meeting of the committee was held in an expanded format and was attended by the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Levan Davitashvili, Deputy Minister Otar Shamugia, State Representative in Kvemo Kartli Shota Rekhviashvili, Bolnisi, Dmanisi, Tetritskaro and Tsalka Majoritarian MP Davit Sherazadishvili, local winemakers.
"It is really symbolic that today we have gathered to hear the report on the activities of the National Wine Agency here in Bolnisi - a part of ancient history, great culture, including winemaking traditions, where these traditions are being restored during the recent years. It is important not to limit ourselves to Kakheti winemaking, which is particularly large producer of wine, and to visit all other regions that have potential and historical experience in winemaking,” said Nino Tsilosani at the opening of the committee meeting.
Levan Mekhuzla, the head of the National Wine Agency, presented the report on the activities carried out by the National Wine Agency in 2020.
According to him, 2020 was quite difficult and full of challenges due to the Covid pandemic, however, it should be noted that despite the challenges, the year still ended positively for the agency.
"I want to start with the success and recognition of what happened in 2020, in particular, the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) included the wines made by Georgian technology - "Wines made on dregs (Chacha) through long maceration" in the list of OIV special wines. This is a great achievement for the wine industry. Along the wines, such as 'sparkling', 'carbonated', 'fortified', 'liqueur', 'sweet wines with residual sugar derived from grapes', 'Icewine' and “Firm” is also our traditional technology," the National Wine Agency said. Head.
Considering that the main activity of the National Wine Agency is to promote the development of the viticulture and winemaking sector, Levan Mekhuzla introduced the programs that the agency implements to achieve this goal, in particular, these programs are:
• Development of viticulture;
• Promotion of Georgian wine;
• Vintage promotion activities;
• Research and popularization of Georgian vine culture;
• Development of the system of designations of origins;
• Laboratory research of wine;
He spoke in details about the activities carried out in each direction.
As the speaker noted, the COVID-19 virus pandemic has had a significant impact on the wine industry - declining exports to international markets and the collapse of the domestic tourism season have posed new challenges for the industry.
According to him, despite the difficult epidemiologic situation in the country, the LEPL National Wine Agency did not delay the technical and technological procedures required for wine exports, marketing activities in the international strategic markets of Georgian wine were replaced by remote and online formats, vintage was organized and wine quality monitoring activities continued.
The Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture presented a vision for the development of viticulture and winemaking in the country, which will be outlined in the specific plans.
He also introduced the strategic plans to the assembly, which should take the sector to a whole new level.

He mentioned, that they are working on a 10-year plan for the development of the sector and will present specific indicators, according to which, by 2030, the export of wine products should reach one million dollars.
"We are going to make Georgia a wine-producing country - Georgian wine should become universal - this is an ambitious statement, but it is real and achievable," the minister said.
Along the other issues, the meeting was also focused on the problems of family and small type cellars.
Local winemakers made a presentation on the development of winemaking and asked lawmakers and government officials to help solve the problems they face.
According to Nino Tsilosani, the main indicators and parameters related to the development of winemaking, which have been achieved by the Ministry and the Agency, are really remarkable.
According to her, one of the important news is the registration of Bolnisi as a designation of origin and it is great that this registration was carried out by the association of local winemakers.
According to her, it would be perfect if others would follow their example. She also mentioned, that the Ministry has interesting plans for the development of winemaking, about which the Minister had a speech and "this is a strategically new direction and will be important for the growth of viticulture and winemaking as a sector in Georgia."
During the committee's meeting, the legislators, together with representatives of the government and local governments, visited Berdia Berishvili’s Cellar, the terraced vineyards on Mount Elia, and the old German wine house in the Caterinfield district, which is in the process of rehabilitation.

In the village of Disveli, Bolnisi Municipality, they also visited the cooperative "Disveli" - a cheese processing factory.
According to the Chair of the Committee on Agrarian Affairs, who is also the Chairman of the Standing Parliamentary Council on Gender Equality, this facility is really remarkable in the sense that it is founded by women.
"It is important that this is a women's cooperative, which has been operating since the 1990s and, in fact, has reached the most urgent stage of development now, in recent years. Based on the essence of the cooperative, they received funding for a cheese processing, including those plants and lines necessary to produce high quality and appropriate standard cheese. They are at a fairly high stage of development, but at the moment there is a question of further development of the enterprise. In this regard, the committee will develop specific recommendations toeliminate all obstacles or barriers that hinder the development of cooperatives as much as possible, "- said Nino Tsilosani.