New Wine Festival 2019
By Mariam Chanishvili
Friday, May 17
Spring in Tbilisi is fascinating not only because of blooming nature and warm weather but also because the New Wine Festival taking place in May every year now in one of the green areas of Tbilisi.
New Wine Festival took place on May 11th at Mtatsminda Park.
The festival is traditionally supported by the National Wine Agency and Tbilisi City Hall.
About 250 wine companies and families making their wine had their production presented in special booths and sections. The event was accompanied by live music by Reso Kiknadze Jazz Band and ‘Nali’ Band. Wine raffles, with a chance to win 10 wine barrels, also took place during the festival.
The festival is very popular among tourists from different countries, as well as for the local population, especially students.
This year's 'New Wine Festival' is special for the Wine Club, celebrating 10 years since its founding.
The club aims at organizing educational events, public lectures, discussions, screenings, and training to promote high-quality wine, revive the forgotten traditions, popularize grapes of ancient Georgian varieties, support novelties and innovative initiatives in the Georgian wine industry, etc.
The Wine Club is also committed to educational programs and has already published several brochures and books such as Georgia – The Cradle of Wine (2010, in English) and Pairing Georgian Wines and Georgian Dishes (2011, in Georgian).
The club assessed the festival as ‘a cheerful event, bringing liberty and unity,’ with the following motto: ‘Wine for Everyone. Everyone for Wine.’
Georgia has been making wine for at least 8,000 years and is considered to be the oldest wine making country in the world.
Georgia exported about 86.2 million bottles of wine to 53 countries in 2018, which is a high record in the last 30 years.
With the growing export rate, wine festivals and exhibitions have become famous for the local population, as well as tourists.
