Summary of Current Year in Wine - Harvest, Exports, and More
The Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Levan Davitashvili, along with the leadership of the National Wine Agency, summarized the results of the current year and discussed the plans for 2022.
During the meeting, it was mentioned that the main successes of 2021 are the growing export statistics, the organized vintage, the completion of the vineyard cadaster program in Kakheti and Racha-Lechkhumi regions, and the activities carried out to improve the quality of wine.
This year, within the framework of the Vineyard Cadaster Program, 26,500 hectares of vineyards were registered in Kakheti and Racha-Lechkhumi regions. During the vintage 2021, all viticulturists, a total of 23 thousand farmers, handed over the grapes to the enterprises with the vineyard cadaster extract. Across Georgia, 243 thousand tons of grapes were processed, and the income of viticulturists reached 270 million GEL.
It should be noted that the vineyard cadaster program will be implemented in the Kartli region in 2022 and will cover all wine regions of Georgia in the future. The creation of the Georgian National Vineyard Cadaster will simplify the vintage process and ensure the quality of grape products.
According to Levan Davitashvili, the plans of the National Wine Agency are in line with the long-term strategy of the Georgian government for the development of the wine industry. In particular, during the next 10 years, the implementation of marketing campaigns in the strategic export markets of Georgian wine will be strengthened and will be aimed at promoting large-scale sales of Georgian wine in the niche segment as well as in trade chains. In coordination with the private wine industry, by 2030, as a result of state-sponsored marketing measures and sustainable quality assurance of Georgian wine, revenues from the sale of wine and other grape spirits will reach $ 1 billion for the country.
According to the instruction of the Minister, the National Wine Agency should continue the measures aimed at increasing the quality of Georgian wine and alcoholic beverages along with the increase in exports.
Georgian wine strategic markets still remain the following countries: USA, Japan, China, UK, Poland, Germany and Baltic countries. In order to diversify export markets, new markets are planned to be developed.