Georgian wines make push on Asia

Keen to replicate the burgeoning success of Georgian wine in London and New York, pioneering winemakers have Asia firmly in their sights, but have been met with mixed reactions.

Traditional clay vessels are still used to produce Georgia’s “amber wine”

While Georgian wine is found on many London and New York wine lists, it is virtually unknown in Hong Kong and the rest of Asia (aside from China) which gave rise to a recent tasting and paired dinner introducing the wine to the Hong Kong market.

Around 150 wine lovers and members of the trade gathered in Hullett House to taste 40 different wines from several wineries, including Tbilvino, Château Mukhrani, Telavi Wine Cellar and Winery Khareba,

To highlight the wines’ propensity to go with Chinese cuisine, eight flights of wines were offered with multi-dish Cantonese courses so guests could evaluate the best pairings for themselves – for example, whether roasted eel with Osmanthus sauce went best with dry whites, Rkatsiteli Qvevri,  Mtsvane Kisi or Goruli Mtsvane.

Debra Meiburg of Meiburg Wine Media said: “With 8,000 continuous vintages, it is arguably the birthplace of winemaking, and is so entrenched in Georgian culture that almost every farm has a vineyard. The depth of knowledge and experience is phenomenal. But, having almost exclusively exported to Russia for the majority of the last two centuries, it has, until recently been a ‘secret’ from the rest of the world.

“One of the most interesting points about Georgian wine for the Asian market is its diversity of wine styles, made with exotic, uniquely Georgian varieties, such as Mstvane, Krakhuna and the stylish Saperavi.  Georgia’s use of ancient Qvevri clay vessels to produce amber-hued ‘natural wines.’ has already captured the attention of top-class sommeliers in the world’s trend-setting cities and now it’s Hong Kong’s turn to showcase these wines.”

While the consensus of the event was generally positive, others in the trade were skeptical that Hong Kong was ready for new arrivals.

Tersina Shieh, an independent wine consultant and winemaker said: “Georgia has been promoting its wine in Hong Kong since 2011 and like all wine countries, there are good and bad quality wines depending of the producers, and I certainly tasted both at the event. The Qvevri wine is interesting but definitely not everyone’s cup of tea.

Big in China: Georgian wineries were well represented at the 2015 China Food and Drinks Fair in Chengdu.

“I’m aware that Georgian wine is up and coming in the London and New York restaurant scene because it offers something different. These cities have a well-developed wine culture and diners drink regularly with whatever meals they are having. Sadly the situation is not like this in Hong Kong at all.

“There may be some more visionary sommeliers who will list a few Georgian wines but will they actually sell? The market is certainly bigger than four years ago but it could be better when it comes to new wine varieties.”

However, figures from the China market are looking encouraging as a report on Georgia’s English language online news source, Agenda said that exports to China will increase three-fold to 500,000 bottles following the opening of a winemaking house in Beijing’s Nutrition and Alcohol Research Institute.

Georgian wine was also represented at the China Food and Drinks Fair in Chendu, in March of this year – a sign that the demand of Georgian wine is on the rise in China, said chairman of Georgia’s National Wine Agency, Giorgi Samanishvili.

“In China the interest towards Georgian wine was very high,” he commented afterwards. “After negotiations with Chinese importers, we found out that the number of Georgian wine importers in China will be increased.”

Georgia’s agricultural minister, Otar Danelia also emphasized that it was very important for Georgia to deepen trade-economic relations with China.

“Georgian wine is distinguished by its uniqueness. Georgia produces 18 wines of local origin and one geographically indicated product – Chacha. We can offer a wide variety of white, red and rosé wines. We are glad to see the demand of Georgian wine is increasing in China.”