Vine And Wine Culture Research And Popularization
In 2014 the Agency launched the project "Georgian Vine and Wine Culture Research and Promotion" project aimed at collecting new data for verification of ancient Georgian wine culture, reconstruction of vintage-winemaking history and promoting Georgian wine.
Within the framework of the program, new archeological excavations are being implemented, the vine remains discovered in various historical era on the territory of Georgia are systematized, dated and analyzed ; Biochemical testing of archaeological material for the purpose of detecting wine balances; Georgian viticulture – representation of the ethnographic heritage of winemaking; Modern viticulture and wine industry analysis, etc.
The world scientific society recognized, that the earliest traces of winemaking was discovered in Georgia. On November 13, the scientific journal of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS) published a research article „Early Neolithic wine of Georgia in the South Caucasus“ on the study of archaeological material discovered on the territory of Georgia, proving, that in Georgia wine was produced 8 000 years ago. The research was implemented within the frames of the "Georgian Vine and Wine Culture Research State Scientific Project", which is carried out by the National Wine Agency since 2014. The above-mentioned scientific conclusions came to the attention of world media - articles were published in all leading news and scientific publications (The New York Times, BBC, CNN, The Guardian, National Geographic, WashingtonPost etc.). The fact of the discovery of ancient wine is included in the Guinness Book of Records.
From the work carried out during the program, the following facts should be noted: