Source: Investment activities in Georgia, State Statistic Department, 1999
Most Exportable Agricultural Products.
Georgian Wines. Georgia is known as the birthplace of viticulture and winemaking and has 5000 years of wine culture. The rich land, hot sun and hard work have developed about 500 varieties of wine in Georgia.
According to the State Department of Statistics exports of different types of Georgian wine during first nine month of the 2001 made up 18186,5 thousand USD which is 7,8 percent of the total Georgian exports.
At the end of the 20th century, the collapse of the Soviet Union has caused an economic decline in Georgia, which negatively affected the Georgian wine sector. To be more precise – the overall territory of vineyards has decreased by 50%, (1990 – 112,6 thousand hectares, 2000y – 60,5 thousand hectares). This tendency was mainly caused by the following reasons: lack of enough funds among farmers to purchase chemicals, technical devices and machines for vine cultivation, also huge numbers of farmers had to convert their vineyards into land to grow edible products such as corn, vegetables, and grain.
In addition, from the mid 1990s the tendency of vineyard rehabilitation has been quite dynamic, still the total area of vineyards is far less than it was even 20 years ago.
Table # 1 Tendency of wine sector development for the last ten years
|
Sector |
Measure |
1981-85 average per year |
1986-90 average per year |
1990 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
|
Total area of vineyards |
(1000) Hectares |
137,4 |
116,1 |
112,6 |
94,2 |
94,0 |
72,0 |
70,0 |
60,1 |
60,5 |
61,5 |
|
Production of grape |
(1000) Tones |
768,0 |
712,0 |
691,0 |
160,0 |
342,0 |
370,0 |
370,0 |
219,0 |
210,0 |
170,0 |
|
Grape Processing |
(1000) Tones |
564,3 |
422,5 |
433,5 |
38,0 |
60,0 |
46,0 |
23,5 |
29,5 |
34,4 |
19,1 |
|
Production of wine materials |
(1000) decaliters |
21969,0 |
14997,0 |
16283 |
3670 |
2223 |
3121,6 |
2303,8 |
1859,2 |
1816 |
1900 |
|
Production of champagne and sparkling wines |
(1000) decalitres |
1375,7 |
1526 |
1451 |
49,2 |
94,6 |
75,6 |
40,3 |
64,7 |
87,9 |
88,35 |
|
Production of Brandy |
(10000 decaliters |
1563 |
1865 |
2165 |
158 |
135 |
82.,3 |
37,8 |
30,4 |
70,6 |
71,0 |
|
Production of the liqueur |
(10000decaliters) |
937.0 |
523,0 |
822 |
103 |
132 |
251 |
112,7 |
473,0 |
430,0 |
569,0 |
Source: Samtrest, Ministry of Agriculture.2002
Even though the Georgian wine sector is famous for its 500 traditional grape varieties, the vast majority is currently grown and available only in limited areas and numbers. Traditionally in accordance with climate and soil characteristics – Georgia is divided into 5 main wine producing regions. Kakheti, Kartli, Imereti, Racha-lechkhumi and the Black Sea Subtropical zone.
In accordance with the development and strength of the wine sector Kakheti could be easily considered as the leader. The region is characterized by huge variety of grapes and assortment of wine.
From the structural point of view, 80% of Georgian vineyards is allocated to white grapes: Rkaciteli amounts to almost 75% of all white wines and the remaining 25% is allocated to Cicka, Colikauri, Mcvane, and Tetra. The dominant type in red grapes is presented by Saperavi which holds 70%. The remaining 30% is allocated to the following red grapes: Aleksandriuli, Mijuretuli, Ojaleshi, and Vaios Saperavi.
Table # 2 below indicates the total area by regions (1000 hectares) as of year 2001.
|
Region |
State Vineyards |
Private Vineyards |
Total |
|
Kakheti |
1,35 |
43,73 |
45,08 (~ 75%) |
|
Kartli |
0,18 |
5,83 |
6,01 (~10%) |
|
West Georgia |
0,27 |
8,74 |
9,01 (~15%) |
|
Total |
1,8 |
58,3 |
60,1 (100%) |
Source: Ministry of Agriculture, 2002
Table #3 below indicates the information on main types of Georgian grape, as of 2001
|
Species of grapes |
Colour |
Regions of prevalent |
Sugar content (%) |
General acidity (%) |
Yield of Grapewine (kg) |
|
Aladasturi |
Red |
Chokhatauri, Vani, Bagdadi |
19,5-20,0 |
8,8-9,2 |
2,0-2,5 |
|
Aleksandreuli |
Red |
Ambrolauri, Tsageri, Oni |
22.0-23,0 |
7,0-7,5 |
1,5-2,0 |
|
Chkaveri |
Red |
Chokhatauri, Ozurgeti |
19,5-21,0 |
8,1-9,6 |
1,8-2,0 |
|
Mtsvane |
White |
Telavi,Sagarejo, Akhmeta |
21,5-22,0 |
9,5-10,0 |
1,5-2,0 |
|
Ojaleshi |
Red |
Martvili, Tsageri |
21.0-22,0 |
9,0-9,5 |
1,4-1,6 |
|
Rkatsiteli |
White |
Kakheti |
19,0-20,- |
6,0-6,5 |
1,4-1,5 |
|
Saperavi |
Red |
Kakheti |
20,0-22,0 |
7,0-8,5 |
1,5-1,7 |
|
Tetra |
White |
Ambrolauri |
20,0-22,0 |
7,5-8,5 |
1,5-1,7 |
|
Tsitska |
White |
Imereti, Lanchkhuti |
18,5-20,5 |
8,5-10,0 |
1,5-2,0 |
|
Tsolikauri |
White |
Imereti |
19,0-21,5 |
9,0-10,5 |
1,5-2,0 |
|
Usakhelauri |
White |
Tsageri |
19,0-21,0 |
7,5-9,0 |
1,4-1,8 |
|
Vaios Saperavi |
Red |
Keda |
20,0-20,5 |
8,5-9,0 |
2,4-2,8 |
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