The new campaign will feature events and activities designed to educate and further grow awareness among trade and press in the US, a top export market for Georgia
New York, NY, March 28, 2024 –Wines of Georgia, the organization that represents and promotes the wines of the country of Georgia and is financed by the National Wine Agency of Georgia, which is a legal entity under the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and the country’s wineries, is excited to announce its 2024 integrated communications campaign in the United States, with a number of trade and press activations and events. The goal of the 2024 program is to continue to engage and educate thought leaders in the industry, with the US as a top strategic market for Georgia. According to the National Wine Agency, the value of US exports of Georgian wine has been rising over the past several years, increasing 6% in 2023, and the interest in Georgian wine is continuing to gain momentum into 2024.
Tamta Kvelaidze, Head of Marketing & PR at the Georgian National Wine Agency, says, “We are excited to continue to build on the successes of our campaign over the past two years, which marked a pivotal moment of growth for the Georgian wine category in the US as a result of education-driven activities and a dedicated approach to expanding awareness through trade and press relations. Our vision moving forward is to gain an even deeper understanding of the diversity of Georgian wines among US trade and press, in order for our wines and culture to become a part of Americans’ everyday lives.”
The 2024 program will feature a variety of traditional and new strategic media and trade activities centered on increasing category awareness in the US. Engaging press, trade, and consumers through educational experiences and promotional activities, the Wines of Georgia campaign strives to achieve stronger familiarity of the country’s wines in the US market, guided by communications pillars focused on Georgia’s rich winemaking history and modern innovation, wide range of high-quality wines, diversity of terroirs and subregions, food pairing versatility, and cultural traditions,
This year, Wines of Georgia is coordinating two trade trips in 2024: the first for Master Sommeliers and the second for retail buyers. In addition to the trade-focused trips, the campaign will coordinate trips for US wine critics covering Georgia. These trips will allow attendees to explore the county’s regions and wines, as well as its culture and traditions, to enhance their work in the Georgian wine category.
On June 8, the campaign will have a presence at the third annual Saperavi Festival, presented by Saperica, Inc., Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery, Chama Mama Restaurant and the National Wine Agency of Georgia, featuring producers of Saperavi and Rkatsiteli wines from the Finger Lakes region of New York, throughout the USA, and Georgia, as well as authentic Georgian food with a modern twist. Following the Saperavi Festival, Wines of Georgia will organize a trade dinner during Vinexpo New York on June 24 targeting influential members of the trade.
For the third year in a row, Wines of Georgia will be at TEXSOM as one of the conference’s largest regional sponsors from August 25-27, to showcase the country’s variety of styles and wineries, and will be sponsoring a lunch and two tables at each of the six sessions during the grand tasting, featuring wines from leading Georgian producers. The campaign also participated in the 2024 TEXSOM Awards in February, submitting 55 wines for review and sponsoring a Wines of Georgia dinner. Wines of Georgia will also partner with Wine & Spirits Magazine, to host a dedicated Georgia wine seminar and tasting in August for key New York-based trade and media.
On September 24, Wines of Georgia will hold its second Grand Tasting and Masterclass event in New York. following the success of last year’s event that was the first of its kind for Georgia in the US and attracted over 200 attendees. An exceptional industry event created to showcase the best of Georgia through a wide variety of wines and producers, the Grand Tasting and Masterclass event will maximize its impact, providing hundreds of trade and media professionals the unique opportunity to further develop their knowledge of the many styles of Georgian wine from dynamic terroirs across the region, ranging from traditional to more modern expressions, and including reds, whites, ambers, rosés and sparkling wines, through connecting with the producers and wines of Georgia on a personal level.
Supporting its educational program, Wines of Georgia will continue to offer interested media, wine trade and wine-loving consumers access to the Georgian Wine Certification program in partnership with the Napa Valley Wine Academy. The first-of-its-kind free three-hour education course, the Georgian Wine Certification program features seven learning modules on Georgia and its wines, with topics ranging from history, culture, and winemaking techniques to the country’s various regions and terroir and indigenous varieties and styles. After completing the modules, users will gain a thorough understanding of the wines of the country of Georgia and will receive an educational reference guide and presentation on Georgia for use, as well as have access to a final quiz that, once passed, will provide them with a Georgian wine certificate endorsed by the Georgian National Wine Agency.
Today, Georgia produces wine from more than 525 indigenous grape varieties cultivated across approximately 55,000 hectares of vineyards. In 2023, Georgia produced 165.9 million liters of wine, 92% of which was from the country’s leading region of Kakheti, which accounts for 76.7% of the country’s total vineyard area. With 29 defined wine PDOs, Georgia boasts a diversity of styles including reds, whites, rosés, skin-contact ambers, and sparkling wine from 2,398 registered wine producers. In 2023, around 480 Georgian producers exported a total of 89.5 million liters of wine to 65 countries, with red wine accounting for 68% of this volume. The United States, one of the country’s strategic markets, imported 906,512 liters of Georgian wine in 2023. While export volumes are down across the world, Georgia witnessed a rise in export income in the US, increasing 6% from $5,286,00 in 2022 to $5,612,000 in 2023. The country’s growth in price in the US was up from $5.47 per liter in 2022 to $6.19 per liter in 2023.
The persistent growth of the Georgian wine category in the United States reflects the Georgian National Wine Agency’s dedication to achieving greater awareness and understanding of Georgian wines among US consumers through engaging key trade and press and showcasing the country’s rich 8,000-year winemaking history, tradition and culture, and modern innovations in the industry.
For more information, visit the Wines of Georgia website and follow on social media on Instagram, X and Facebook.
About Wines of Georgia
Wines of Georgia is a promotional campaign financed by the National Wine Agency of Georgia and wineries to educate the US wine trade and general public about the history, culture, quality and universal appeal of Georgian wines and the country’s qvevri winemaking tradition.
