| Georgia - New Old World |
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21/12/2007 03:52 (781 Day 18:00 minutes ago) | |||||
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In fact, if you ask any Georgian about which is the best wine in the world, their immediate answer will be ‘Georgian’.
They may also specify whose wine exactly – his, his uncle’s, brother’s, neighbor’s, etc. They would add as well, that despite ‘being the best’, however, French, Italian and other European wines are more successful and far more famous. On one hand the Georgians tend to be ambitious and proud of our rich history, though on the other hand we admit that, still, there is a big way to go to achieve a real success and better awareness too. However, the history was really interesting.
About 8 thousand years ago, our ancestors cultivated vine on Shulaveri Mountain, located in the South Georgia. For centuries, it has been a thing that gave power to our ancestors in their fight against many and diverse enemies. This was why the vine was the first thing that all the invaders – Arabs, Persians or Turks destroyed in Georgia. By that time mostly the churches and monasteries were engaged in wine making. After being found under the rule of the Russian Empire, Georgia also found a big market.
The Russians did the same thing to the Georgian wine as the English did to Bordeaux many years ago, i.e. we found a huge market, which absorbed tens of million bottles annually till 2006. The 18th and 19th centuries were the period of flourishing the Georgian viticulture. Georgian nobility, traders and even the Russian royal court took up wine-making. Other than Russia, Georgian wine started to gain popularity in Europe, which was supported by foreigners of that time – e.g. the family of the Marshal Murat of Napoleon, residing in Georgia.
The Soviet period led the Georgian viticulture and wine-making to a different direction. There were two negative circumstances – constant care on the increase of the output (there was even a paradoxical term – ‘increase quantity and quality) and the ‘Iron Curtain’. The latter was especially harmful, as far as it did not give any way to the Georgian wine abroad, and the wine was found in the environment with no competition in the Soviet space, when the consumers of that time did not have any choice other than Georgian, Moldavian and Crimean wines. This resulted in the stagnation of the field and it became fully oriented on the Russian-speaking market, and made it attached to it.
Last years of the Soviet were marked with the total falsification. This inertia was so strong that even after the collapse of the Soviet Union the falsification continued and became quite large-scaled, more primitive and rough. Eventually, 80% among the wines of Georgian appellations were produced on the territory of Russia and were not made from the Georgian wine-materials. Honest Georgian wine-makers were in loss because of such deals of the Russian companies, though their functioning stopped together with the Russian Embargo. Instead of imposing the sanctions against their own falsifiers, Russia completely banned the Georgian wine and did it in a usual Soviet manner.
Currently the Georgian wine-making is facing a new challenge, that is, face to face with the market that knows nothing about our wine-making. On the other hand we cannot very well understand what the requirements are at the western or eastern, i.e. non-Russian speaking markets. Currently the west is really rich with a big number of diverse beverages, and in order to accept a new country and wines, they really should be very interesting and offer the best combination of price and quantity. Do we have a chance to become successful on the world market? I think yes, and what is most significant, we do have much desire and national will for this.
In fact, Georgia has much to offer to the world. There is a potential for this. Geographically Georgia is divided into two parts – east (dry and subtropical climate) and west (humid, subtropical).
The major region of viticulture is Kakheti, not only for the east, but also for the whole Georgia. 70% of Georgian wine is produced in Kakheti. The major species of Kakheti is Saperavi (a red indigenous species), which is sometimes jokingly referred to as Superavi due to its features and special significance. Some people compare this species to Syrah, others – to Tempranillo. During the last two centuries it has been spread throughout almost the whole Georgia. During this ‘trip’ it found some places, which after some time turned into the largest terroirs of Georgia, such as Kindzmarauli, Mukuzani, Akhasheni and many others. Rkatsiteli, the major white species of the Georgian wine is also from Kakheti. It is quite widespread in Georgia, in other countries of the former Soviet Union and the east Europe too. Kartli, which represents another significant center of winemaking in the East, is famous with the international species of grapes (Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Aligote, Chardonnay, etc., also remarkable raw materials for producing the sparking wines.
The set of species in the West Georgia is more diverse. Imereti is the largest center of wine-making in the west Georgia and at the same time the ‘stomach’ of Georgia. Most part of the dishes of the Georgian cuisine is originally from Imereti. The best terroirs of Imereti are Sviri and Sazano, where the great indigenous species grow: Tsitska, Tsolikouri, Krakhuna (white) and Aladasturi, also Otskhanuri Sapere and Ojaleshi (red). Despite its small territory, there is one of the best terroirs in Georgia – Khvanchkara in Racha-Lechkhumi, one of the regions of wine-making of the west Georgia, where the species with brilliant features grow: Aleksandrouli and Mujuretuli. This wine, like Kindzmarauli, is naturally semisweet wine.
Despite Georgia really has something to offer to the world, it also faces many problems that hinder this offer to become a success. I will deal only with the most significant ones: When the legendary French enologist Emile Peynaud was given a task to make a great wine, he answered: ‘give me great grapes and I will give you the great wine.’ Currently the Georgian viticulture, as a field, is in a very bad condition, from the scientific point of view and in the light of practical application as well. Knowledge of enology is now facing crisis in general – currently very few Georgian specialists have a chance to learn the novelties and share the practice of the contemporary enology.
Technical equipment of enterprises seldom meet modern standards, and in some cases they are in such poor conditions that we really are obliged to set up a monument to our wine-makers for being able to making good wine in such conditions.
There is much deficit of technical human resources of wine production. Stability of the wine quality has been a problem for years. Legislation on wine is now in the stage of establishment and currently the people are sincerely trying to find out – what will be good for the Georgian wine-making, which game rules we shall introduce in the field for ensuring their effectiveness and sustainability.
There is no wine marketing for Georgian wines as a whole, and it needs to be improved, and, most importantly, we lack the wine philosophy and the feeling that wine production really needs its philosophy, and it is impossible to produce it like other ordinary food products such as margarine and ketchup.
Perhaps, this problem can be solved by fulfilling 2 tasks: Setting the game rules in the field that should be reflected in the effective legislation and setting all the components of all the internal arrangement, such as – education, up-to-date technologies, establishment of various institutions, etc.
I think it is possible to distinguish 3 types or styles of the Georgian wine.
Wines made from indigenous species and Georgian traditional technologies. We may call them the wines of old style, but only with the very positive meaning of this word.
In the new-style wines I mean the wines such as Mukuzani, Kotekhi, Kondoli, Manavi, Napareuli, etc. These are the wines of European style that are easy to understand, though unfamiliar, for the Western markets.
In the international wines I mean Teliani and its Cabernet Sauvignon, other international species spread in Kakheti and the wines of Kartli, where the international species, such as Pinot noir, Pinot Blanc, Aligote, Chardonnay, etc. are widespread. Production of these wines is the least developed in Georgia due to the less demand on them.
Consequently, I think that we should consider the components needed for all the three directions in the internal arrangement of the field, or, consider the necessity of spreading not only the indigenous, but also the international species; maintain the existing appellations and establish new ones, and also not to disturb the wines with no appellation; also, maintain the quality of the wines with appellation that are sent for export, conduct the exact registry of the vineyards by their passportization, control the harvest, etc. We should welcome the fact that this activity is already being implemented and the law on ‘Vine and Wine’ may become more refined as well. It is also rather important to reflect all these things in the normative acts, which will regulate the field on various levels.
Besides, it is necessary to support the establishment of all the necessary institutions such as the regional associations of vinedressers and wine-makers, unions of the companies doing their business in appellations, trade unions, clubs of wine-lovers, wine journalism, wine education, etc.
After we are able to establish the internal arrangement of the field, we will become more courageous for invading the markets. For this we should realize what markets we are dealing with, and what concept we should offer them. We should not forget the internal market, either, which, despite its small size is very important as far as our companies should get recognition first at home then abroad.
Today the internal market of the Georgian Wine is oriented on white wine and its lion share belongs to the unbottled wine. The unbottled wine is produced by the farmers, or the consumers themselves purchase grapes in villages and produce the ‘homemade’ wine. It is clear that the homemade wine does not meet elementary standards of quality wine-making, though it does not seem to be necessary. However, such a little pretension on the quality results in the establishment of low demand on the quality among the population, when the major criteria of the wine quality are only its being natural, i.e. making wine with any additives and chaptalisation. However, it is clear that it is a necessary, though not sufficient condition for making the quality wine.
This topic would not become worth attention if 90% of the Georgian population were not drinking such home-made wine. Here the good way can be to create cooperatives of farmers who would make wine more professionally, and not in very primitive conditions; at the same time they would remain close to the soil which is more difficult in the environment of large enterprises. As the result of wide spreading of such wine consumption, the culture of wine drinking is also different from the traditional European manner and, by the way, from the old Georgian manner as well. The old Georgian and contemporary European manners of drinking are similarly characterized by the principle of moderateness, which was disregarded during the Soviet period. In the 19th century a Kakhetian peasant would not drink wine in one shot like vodka, and would not offer 3 or 5 bottles per person during one dinner.
I do believe that for achieving the success of the Georgian wine, it is necessary to understand for who we are making our wine on the external market. Who our consumer is. Today these are 2 large segments – Russian-speaking, former USSR and Socialist Community, and – the rest of the world. In the first case the awareness regarding our wines is much higher and the image of the Georgian wine has already been established there. It is also clear what is demanded from the Georgian wine and what wine the consumer is expecting. The rest of the world is another issue, for which the Georgian wine – like Georgia itself – is practically unknown.
Our task is not to lose the positive that has already been created on the markets of the former ‘brother republics’ and improve the negative. We can conditionally divide the markets of the former Soviet space into the following parts:
Russia
The young Russian consumers are familiar with France and Australia more than Georgia and they like the wines of these countries more. The taste of Russian consumers is getting more and more refined and it is moved from vodka to wine, from semi-sweet wines to dry wines. Hence, it is clear that the number of the lovers of Georgian wine is naturally decreasing year after year. The younger generation is less interested in the wines of old style.
I think that very soon Russia will have the demand on the same styles of wines as Europe does now.
The same tendencies are observed in the rest of the republics of the former USSR, though the difference is that this development is slower there and the consumption of old-style wines will have more long-term inertia. However, here the wines of the new world are getting more and more powerful, and it is becoming more common to purchase wine not only by the motivation of the tradition of the nostalgia, but also the search for better combination of quality and price.
Most part of the former socialist community is already in the European Union, and the demands there are almost the same as in the old Europe. However, unlike the western Europe there is awareness of Georgian wine in the East Europe, moreover, this awareness is more positive than it was in the former USSR, as far as the falsification of the Georgian wine, due to the low demand, has not been very topical, and this is why the falsifiers could not succeed in spoiling the name of the Georgian wine there as they were in the countries of the former USSR.
It is necessary to establish an image, which corresponds to our internal reality and that will be possible to strengthen and refine it, at the rest or the new markets from the very beginning. In order to reach the new markets successfully, it is necessary to know the demands of these markets, what they like, what niches we can target and what Georgian wine should be like to achieve success. It is possible to identify 3 major segments of this market:
Europe
For example, sweet wines are quite popular in Austria, Germany and Spain, and our semi-sweet Khvanchkara and Kindzmarauli may find their small place there. In general, the old-style Georgian wines, which may be perceived as certain exotics, can become demanded among the wines that are specific and non-traditional for Europe, such as Bandoli, Marsala, etc. The new-style wines may have a good perspective first of all on the English market, where the consumer is not attached to the wine of their country and are constantly looking for new ones. The entry into Europe probably will be the most difficult, though there are always some chances.
The market of the North America, mostly that of the USA is really very big, and therefore very interesting. I think that it is necessary to study their taste state by state, as far as they are very different. Like England, the USA has got tired of reading the difficult French labels, and it moved to simpler versions of international species, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Syrah or Chardonnay, which were offered by the new world with much quantities – Australia, Chile, South Africa, etc. In addition, we should not forget that America itself is one of the biggest producers of wine and California itself is in the avant-garde of wines of the new world. Here not only the new-style wines, but also the Georgian wines produced from international species can be successful.
South-East Asia is still unexplored market even for the well-established wine-making countries, as far as the culture and mentality in those countries are very different from those of Europe. The markets of Japan, China and India are most dynamically developed there. Exactly a month ago a Japanese representative became the President of the World Sommelier Association, and this is not casual. There are 8,500 sommeliers in Japan, and the state issues the Sommelier Diploma after strict exams. This is one more indication how important the countries of south-east Asia are in regards of wine consumption. If the old world is ever able to make wine become fashionable as a beverage with the help of the countries of the new world, no more subsidies will ever be needed for the European agriculture. Here all the three styles of the Georgian wine will be acceptable, and thus, of course it is worth testing.
The new old world. This is the concept that my friends and I elaborated after observing the foreign markets, the history of Georgian wine-making and real environment for several years. We all know what countries are there among the old world – France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, etc. In the new world there is Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Chile, Argentina, Republic of South Africa, etc. Other than these two groups, there are countries the wines of which are not internationally well-known, for example, Israel, Ukraine , Moldova, Algeria, Tunis, etc.
The place of Georgia, probably would be logical in the third and last group, though there is one circumstance. Still, we are the motherland of wine, and we really have a rich history, and, most importantly, we have great terroirs which have been developed for millennia. At the same time we are the part of the old world geographically, and we can be considered as an ancestor of the old world of wine with our history; not even mentioning that we have rich and diverse traditions of wine-making. At the same time, we as a new world, are coming out into the world arena and finding our place. This is why it is possible to call ’new old world’ to the Georgian wine niche, or the old world appearing anew. We are ready to share our vision to all the competent people concerned in reference to this concept, so that to find the best ways for the effective development of our viticulture-wine-making. And I do believe that the Georgian wine-making has a big future and we can achieve it with the love of Georgia, much work and competence.
Thank you very much for your attention.
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