Vintage is proceeding very successfully; generally, the process of harvesting and selling grapes is organized very well, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili told the press after today’s meeting with the members of the Vintage Task Force in Telavi.
According to the Prime Minister, as of today, 170,000 tons of grapes have been sold and processed, and Kakheti’s vineyard-keepers have already received about 200,000,000 GEL in revenues.
“I would like to report to you that, today, I visited and familiarized myself with the work of the Task Force. Vintage is proceeding very successfully. Generally, the process of harvesting and selling grapes is organized very well; the Task Force is working very effectively. As of today, 170,000 tons of grapes have been sold and processed, and Kakheti’s vineyard-keepers have already received about 200,000,000 GEL in revenues.
“I also would like to say that about 300 companies are engaged in this process. There are 450 companies in the country in all, and 300 of them are already involved here. I would like to tell you that I am very happy with the performance of our Task Force. They are controlling the work of all wineries in real time, also the process of grape purchase, from delivery to purchase-they are monitoring and controlling the whole process. Thus, I once again thank Mister Otar Shamugia, his team, and the Task Force as a whole, everyone involved in this process.
“As you know, our Government has been maximally assisting and supporting vineyard-keepers in recent years. Viticulture is our, our country’s, our economy’s strategic field. We are a country of wine, we are the cradle of wine, which is why we have a special attitude toward this field.
“For comparison, let me remind everyone that, in 2012, the country’s vineyards amounted to 25,000 hectares. But now we have 50,000 hectares, which is of course enormous progress over the past decade. And this is a result of our programs, our assistance. Also, if 20,000,000 liters of wine was exported in 2012, last year we sold a record-breaking amount, over 100,000,000 liters of wine. Last year, the country received 400,000,000 USD in revenues from exporting wine. Of course, this amount was distributed among individual households and regions, and not just this region, but other regions as well where winemaking is well-developed.
“Nowadays there are 450 companies, while only a few dozens of them operated in the past, as I mentioned earlier. And generally, no assistance was provided to vineyard-keepers and viticulture, this field in general.
“Thus, we will once again continue this assistance in the form of subsidies or other programs. There are many programs of this kind. I believe that our population will be pleased this year,” the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister of Georgia was briefed by the members of the Coordination Task Force on the process of vintage at the Task Force headquarters in Telavi.
The Vintage Coordination Task Force officially opened its door on August 24, working 24/7 throughout the process of vintage. The Task Force coordinates the well-organized process of vintage. To organize preparation work for vintage, some of the Task Force members arrived in Kakheti as early as the beginning of August.
Twenty members of the Task Force remain constantly on the ground. The Task Force is led by Levan Mekhuzla, Chairman of the National Wine Agency. The Task Force consists of coordinators for Kakheti Municipality who organize the process of selling grapes and manage the traffic of vehicles loaded with grapes at wineries. In addition, the Task Force has technical personnel for registration and records-keeping purposes. Grapes are documented in a unified electronic system.
As of today, within the scope of 2023 vintage, 170,000 tons of grapes have been processed: about 68,000 tons of Rkatsiteli, about 92 tons of Saperavi, 3 tons of Kakhuri Mtsvane, and the rest consisting of different grape varieties.
About 13,000 vineyard-keepers have sold their crops to winemaking enterprises. Their revenues reach 170,000,000 GEL.
In addition, Harvest Management Company LLC, a state wine-making enterprise, has processed 19,000 tons of grapes damaged by climatic conditions. The revenues of vineyard-keepers from selling damaged grapes amounts to 17,100,000 GEL.
There are 450 winemaking companies registered with the Harvest Task Force. And 300 companies are already involved in grape processing activities.
Harvest with various activities is in full swing in every municipality of Kakheti.
