So far no alternative

Georgian wine makers have not so far found an adequate alternative to the closed Russian wine market. Georgian wine factories face serious problems, having no place to sell their 2008 harvest wines. One litre of home made wine in Kakheti costs only 80 tetris, but even so the peasants cannot sell their wine.

One of the leaders of the Alliance for Georgia, New Rights Chairman Davit Gamkrelidze, stated during a recent visit to Telavi that it is impossible to develop Georgian wine culture without the Russian market. He took the opportunity to criticize the Georgian administration, accusing it of lying when it said that the Russian ban on Georgian wine had not damaged the Georgian economy and we had managed to find alternative markets in Europe and America. He said that everything should be done to restore the previous markets.