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In November, the Georgian Government invited some 40 delegates from Asia, including media and importers, to attend the Trade with Georgia Beverages Tradeshow in Tbilisi. The Asian delegates were joined by visitors from the US and the Middle East to sample wines from over 30 wineries and other beverages at the exhibition.

The 3-day trip, although short, was action-packed. Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW was the guest of honour at the opening forum and she presented the Challenges and Opportunities of Asia’s wine markets to the Georgian producers, who hope to export their wines to this part of the world. Mr Zhu Sixu, deputy director general of the Guangdong Provincial Alcohol Monopoly Bureau, meanwhile, talked about the potential wine and spirits market in booming China.

Georgia has the longest wine making history, over 8,000 years, of any country in the world. Most wines are made from indigenous varieties, the most common being Rkatsiteli, Mtsvane (whites) and the red Saperavi, although some producers are experimenting with international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Wines can be made in traditional ‘qvevri’ (or kvevri), ceramic jars containing grape juice, skin and stalks that are buried underground for fermentation and ageing. Modern winemaking techniques using stainless steel/barrel fermentation, and ageing in french barriques are also used. Some winemakers are experimenting with a combination of both techniques. Wine styles are diverse, ranging from dry to semi sweet, and sparkling to fortified. Georgia adopts an appellation system similar to that in Bordeaux or Burgundy where wine can be named after the region or district.

Guests were generally impressed by the red wine, especially the Kindzmarauli Marani Saperavi Barrel Select 2006, which took the 2011 Best Other Reds Trophy at the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition. Most agreed that the traditional kvevri white wine style is unique but needs time for people to understand and appreciate. According to Tina Kezeli, the Executive Director of the Georgian Wine Association, some producers in Italy, Germany and even the US, embracing non-intervention winemaking practices, are making wine in qvevri.

All guests enjoyed the beautiful snow scenery during the Kakheti wine region visit, and the hospitality the Georgians lavished on us.

Importers interested in some unique wines can check out the
Georgian Beverages Tradeshow website for wineries information. Read more

Finally, a directory of the wine trade in Hong Kong. Debra Meiburg’s Guide to the Hong Kong Wine Trade 2012 lists some 250 importers (a good start though not comprehensive), plus retailers, logistics companies and more. I particular appreciate the over 70 pages of first hand research on the Hong Kong market supported by charts and graphs. Highly recommended as a background read for producers looking to enter the Hong Kong or China market. The guide is also a good reference book for the F&B industry and wine lovers so they know where to find a wine, not to mention a good exposure for the distributors. Good job Debra.

Ned, 'When drinking wine ask yourself if you would like another glass, or perhaps another. If one is naturally inclined to drink a third glass, it is proof that a wine is balanced and clearly, for me at least, delicious.ʼ

Do the new ways of sealing wine affect quality?

Today, even though consumers remain attached to the traditional cork as well as to the flourish that one uses to open it and the sometimes ingenious instruments that have been devised to make that easier, there are many effective alternatives. These alternatives were born of the increasing volumes being bottled and of the deterioration in cork quality that followed. Increased demand has in effect driven cork producers to harvest younger less effective cork, while the combined evils of air and water pollution have led to an alarming increase in wine faults, and these are no longer limited to the well known and easily recognised musty taste known as cork taint. We have seen the emergence of the rapid oxidation of white wines associated with washing corks in a peroxide bath and a major rise in chlorine taints, of which the most dangerous—the now equally famous ‘TCA’ (a stale cardboard taste from the trichloranisole molecule)—may also be caused by pollution of the places where wine is made, aged or bottled. By the late 1990s more than 10% of bottles were defective, something that was clearly intolerable and unacceptable. So the industry devised and proposed other kinds of seal and other kinds of stopper. The most widespread—first in Switzerland and then in many southern hemisphere countries—is the screwcap, patented in France (by Pechiney and Alcan), a very practical and reliable method, at least for wines that will be drunk within five years, which is still the fate of 90% of all wines on the planet. All the comparative tastings that we have been able to do have demonstrated the greater clarity and aromatic precision of screwcap wines (when the technique is applied properly), which is key for whites and rosés. Once one is used to this purity one finds all other wines have a cork taste to some degree. For diehard fans of the stopper, cork has been replaced by synthetic materials or even glass, not that these solutions are as convincing as the screwcap. And of course the cork industry has felt the wind of change and is slowly but seriously questioning itself, beefing up its production control at all levels and accepting the ever more stringent requirements of its customers. For fine wines, the elegance of a quality cork and the evidence of history of its reliability over a long period have, so far, not been questioned.

Click here for Bettane & Desseauve's ratings on 2010 Bordeaux.

Last month's question was: “Which wine producing region is this?” The correct answer was Château Lafite. The winner this time is Charles McLaughlin. Well done Charles, you have won a mystery bottle from IWC’s cellar.

This month’s question:
"In which Chateau can you find this sculpture?"

Prize: A bottle of wine from IWC’s cellar (with all our global wine friends, you know you’ll be in for a treat!)

Send Us Your Answer here!