Georgia decided that Russia will “drink anything”
The volumes of Georgian grapes for red wine produced in Georgia are less than the volumes of these products supplied to Russia.
Izvestia draws attention to this paradox.
“It is not clear where the grapes for the 28,5 million liters of red Georgian wine sold to Russia last year come from. The planting area of the most popular red variety, Saperavi, in Georgia is about 5 thousand hectares. This volume is not enough even to cover exports to Russia, not counting other directions of Georgian exports - Ukraine, Kazakhstan, where red wine is also in demand. Don’t forget about the domestic market, where at least the same 1,4 million tourists from Russia who visited the hospitable country in 2018 drink red wine,” the publication notes.
In turn, Anton Nosov, leading analyst at the WineRetail Information Center, is convinced that it is unlikely that it would be possible to quickly increase the volume of red wine produced without adulteration. He recalls that in many wine-producing countries there is a reliable old-fashioned way to quickly increase production volumes - the so-called second wine, when the remaining pomace after the grapes have been completely pressed is refilled with the lowest quality press fractions of the must with the addition of sugar, after which fermentation is restarted.
“After this, a skilled technologist, blending this product with ordinary wine - for example, from white grape varieties, adding dyes and sweetening the wine material, can obtain a result that is quite acceptable for an undemanding buyer. Moreover, according to laboratory analyses, these “wines”, as a rule, meet all the requirements; water may not be added to them, alcohol is obtained by natural fermentation, and tests for artificial colors are quite expensive and are not always used,” says Nosov.
And the head of the Union of Sommeliers and Experts of Russia, Artur Sargsyan, says that high-quality wines are produced in Georgia, but only a small part of them reaches the Russian market.
“Many producers perceive the Russian market as an opportunity to get rid of low-quality wine waste, and even make money from it. As far as I know, the National Tasting Commission of Georgia is very loyal to the quality of wines that are exported to Russia. Neither in the UK nor in China will you find such low-quality Georgian wine as in Russia,” the expert notes.
According to him, such a situation could end badly for both the market and Georgian winemaking.
“Let us remember 2006 and the statements of some Georgian officials that Russia “will drink anything.” No, he won't drink. Enough with treating Russia as a “third world” wine country. An own tasting commission to assess the incoming quality of imported wines should work in Moscow. This is the only way to guarantee that counterfeit goods will not enter the country,” sums up Sargsyan.
Recently, Rospotrebnadzor reported that the quality of Georgian wine supplied to the Russian Federation is deteriorating. “From 2014 to 2018, the volume of low-quality Georgian alcohol supplied to Russia increased 2,9 times – to 203 liters,” the department said in a statement.
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