Wine Experts from US Visit Georgia

Seven wine experts from the United States (US) are paying a five-day visit to Georgia in order to taste Georgian wines and cuisine and explore the history of winemaking.

The tour for the US experts is organized by the National Wine Agency of Georgia (NWA), which says that the sommeliers will visit representatives of the following 18 Georgian wine companies and taste their wines: Alapiani, Batono, Giuaani, Orgo/Teleda, Mosmieri, Satsnakheli, Shalauri, Maranuli, Papris Valley, Our Wine, Meghvineoba Nika, Kakha Berishvili’s Wine, Winery Daniel, Naotrebi, Iago’s Wine, Chateau Mukhrani, Lagvinari and Gotsa’s Wines.

The group of sommeliers is led by famous Master of Wine and head of the National Wine Agency contractor American company, Tasting Works, Lisa Granik. Granik has made it her mission to organize visits of wine professionals to Georgia as well as numerous Georgian wine tastings and presentations throughout the US.

Granik believes that the quality of Georgian wine is increasingly better and aims to raise awareness of such in her homeland.

“The introduction of the Georgian traditional method of winemaking and unique grape varieties to professionals will result in export growth and the development of wine tourism in Georgia,” she stated.

The NWA says that the US is one of the most important current and potential export markets for Georgian wine.

“According to the numbers for January-July 2017, 236 thousand bottles of wine have been exported to the US. The growth compared to the previous year amounted to 89 percent,” the NWA stated.

Thea Morrison