Grape Harvest Kicks Off in Kakheti
The Grape Harvest 2018 has begun in Georgia’s foremost winemaking region - Kakheti. Georgia’s National Wine Agency (NWA) reports that more than 23 thousand tons of grapes have been processed in Kakheti so far, including 14 thousand tons of Saperavi, 5 thousand tons of Rkatsiteli, and 800 tons of Kakhuri Mtsvane. The NWA has announced that the income of local farmers has already reached 37 million GEL ($14,859,436.80).
The Head of the Harvest Coordination Headquarters and Deputy Head of the NWA, Andro Aslanishvili, stated that around 150 wine companies are involved in this year’s harvest process and are buying grapes from local farmers. Grapes have already been processed by 71 wine companies.
“The harvesting process has begun in almost all municipalities of Kakheti, except Sagarejo, where traditionally the vintage starts later…In all regions of Kakheti, wine enterprises continue receiving grapes in the usual regime and are processing the harvest,” Aslanishvili said, adding that the number of participating companies is growing.
The Harvest Coordination Headquarters began operating in Kakheti on August 20 and is ready to register more enterprises that wish to participate in the collective harvest. The Headquarters was set up by representatives of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture, the National Wine Agency, and State Representative-Governors of the Kakheti region. It operates 24/7 during the harvest, helping farmers and enterprises organize the harvest, and ensuring accountability and traceability, which is a precondition for quality production.
The NWA reports that the grapes are collected in accordance with the Unified Electronic Accounting system implemented by the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture in 2013.
In order to promote grape growing, the government has issued subsidies for Rkatsiteli, Saperavi and Kakhuri Mtsvane grapes in 2017. However, this year the government decided not to subsidize grapes in the country.
By Thea Morrison