Georgia’s Viticulture Heartland to Host UN Wine Tourism Conference

TBILISI – Georgia’s Kakheti region, known as the cradle of the country’s winemaking, will host a UN-organized conference on wine tourism on September 7-9.

The UN’s World Tourism Organization will play host to the first annual Global Conference on Wine Tourism, a forum where experts and industry leaders will focus on the wineries impact on the local cultural, economy and environment.

Various workshops will be held at different wineries in Kakheti, home to 65 per cent of Georgia’s wine producing vineyards and 80 per cent of the country’s grape harvest.

Winemaking in the Kakheti region has been dated back 8,000 years. Organizers hope the conference helps promote Georgia’s unique winemaking traditions, including the UNESCO-listed method of fermentation in large tear-shaped terra cotta amphorae known as qvevri.

By Tamar Svanidze
Edited by Nicholas Waller