Wine - Georgia's Passport in Civilized World

Speaking with government officials at a televised outdoor meeting in a vineyard in eastern Georgian region of Kakheti, President Saakashvili said that grape and wine was “a matter of identity” for Georgia, which was more than just agriculture.

“[Grape] harvest is not an usual event,” he told Agriculture Minister Bakur Kvezereli, Governor of Kakheti region, Giorgi Gviniashvili, and other officials. “It’s very important fundamental political issue.”

“Grape and wine – it’s a matter of our identity, a genuine passport of culture, that’s our pride; that’s on which our identity, existence stands,” Saakashvili said.
  
“We have to work hard to popularize our wine, because, I repeat it again, that’s our passport in the civilized world,” he added.

He said that by banning import of Georgian wine, Russia wrongly thought it would have triggered residents of Kakheti, home to over 60% of Georgian vineyards, to turn against the Georgian government. He said that Russia also wrongly thought that the ban would have triggered collapse of the Georgian economy; he said that instead Georgia improved quality of its wines and diversified export markets.

Even if Russia opens its market for the Georgian wine, “one day they may again kick you out,” Saakashvili said.

“The Russian market is based on plunder, piracy, hypocrisy and illegality; but we have learnt to work in normal conditions.”

“Russia considers us as a huge problem, so unfortunately at this stage we should not expect anything good from them,” he said.
 
Agriculture Minister, Bakur Kvezereli, told the President that the Georgian winemakers had “learnt the lesson” of Russia’s embargo and were no longer actively seeking return on the Russian market.

Late last month Russia’s chief sanitary inspector, Gennady Onishchenko, said that Russian experts were ready to arrive in Georgia to inspect quality of the wines as soon as Georgian winemakers applied to his agency. In 2006 Russia banned import of Georgian wines, as well as of mineral waters citing sanitary reasons. Officials in Tbilisi say that such statements are made in Moscow time after time amid the Swiss-mediated talks with Georgia on Russia’s WTO entry terms. The issue of embargo, according to the Georgian negotiators, is not part of those negotiations because Russia will anyway have to lift that politically-motivated embargo when and if Russia joins WTO.

Saakashvili also said on September 3, that although Georgia diversified export markets for its wine, a lot still remains to be done in this direction, especially in respect of accessing markets in the Baltic states, as well as in Poland and especially in the United States.

2011 state budget allocates GEL 500,000 (about USD 300,000) for “measures aimed at promotion of the Georgian wine.”

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Georgia: MTV and Tbilisi Ink Mega-Concert Deal

In a bid to promote Georgia’s profile in world markets and attract tourists and investors, Tbilisi has signed a deal with the global music entertainment network MTV for a high-octane concert to be televised worldwide, a source close to the negotiations has confirmed to EurasiaNet.org.

The concert, tentatively planned for May or June 2011, will be held in the Black Sea resort town of Batumi, according to Georgian Tourism Department Director Maia Sidamonidze. The performance will take place under the auspices of MTV Impact, a division of the network that uses concerts to expand MTV’s reach in developing countries, with the pledge to use the MTV brand to encourage economic growth. 

Pop stars like Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas have headlined similar MTV events in the past, attracting tens of thousands of fans to far-off destinations like Malta where the annual The Isle of MTV Malta festival reportedly brought in over 50,000 concert-goers. As many as 60,000 people could attend the Georgia event, parties involved in the negotiations estimate. A mixture of state funding and corporate sponsors will cover the concert’s estimated $2-million-plus price tag.

A spokesperson for MTV only commented to EurasiaNet.org that the company had identified Georgia for “a strategic alliance.” The MTV deal, though, is not the first time Tbilisi has turned to the celebrity music scene to trade positive publicity for any lingering images of its 2008 war with Russia. The strategy, though, has not always gone according to plan. In September, the Georgian government unceremoniously backed out of an oral agreement with the New York Philharmonic for a concert in Tbilisi; a misunderstanding over costs was blamed for the canceled plans.

With an eye to MTV’s huge potential television audience, the government is keen to make sure that a similar embarrassment does not happen again. Sidamonidze told EurasiaNet.org that officials are doing everything possible to make the event a success. “It is a huge responsibility, I understand, but I don’t think we realize how huge of an opportunity for Georgia in terms of creating awareness of the country [it will be],” she said. “[I]f we are organized enough, if we start our organization and preparation work far in advance, I think we should be able to do it.” 

But significant logistical challenges remain. While Batumi has long been aggressively promoted as the star of President Mikheil Saakashvili’s tourism strategy for Georgia, the city and the surrounding region are still under-developed; basic infrastructure problems , including poor roads and periodic electricity blackouts, persist.

So far, though, the drawbacks appear to faze neither side. The Georgian Tourism Department is preparing a list of acceptable accommodation sites around Batumi, and will hold training sessions on hospitality skills for Batumi restaurant and hotel staff. The government will also work with private companies to organize shuttle buses to the event from local hotels, Sidamonidze said. MTV is also advising the Georgian government on how to prepare for the concert, Sidamonidze added; executives from the channel’s Networks International division traveled to Batumi in November to assess the location. Local event planner Eastern Promotions, which has handled technical preparations for large-scale outdoor concerts in the past, will work with MTV on concert logistics.

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a BRAND new Georgia

In an effort to reassert its value and enhance its image after a bruising military confrontation with Russia in August 2008, Georgia has turned its attention to the exploits of soft power.  In particular, the silver screen.  According to EurasiaNet, Georgia “has been trying to pique the interest of foreign producers by offering Georgia as a low-cost location for big-budget movies.”  Currently filming in the capitol Tbilisi is a movie about the 2008 Russo-Georgian war.  The film stars Academy Award nominee Andy Garcia as President Saakashvili, Jonathan Schaech as Captain Rezo Avaliani, Val Kilmer in a yet undisclosed role, and is directed by Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, The Long Kiss Goodnight).  The film is a counterpunch to the Russian production of a “state-financed action movie about the war that featured an American entomologist struggling to escape from the Georgian military’s onslaught.”[1]  The American production should give Georgia some needed notoriety.

Continuing in its pursuit of soft power, Georgia should also invest in its natural talent – WINE. Unbeknownst to many, Georgia is believed to be the birthplace of wine -- some 7000 years ago.  The fertile valleys of the southern Caucasus make wine cultivation ideal.  By developing its natural viticultural prowess, Georgia could win the sympathetic hearts of wine lovers around the world.  No longer would Georgia be confused with the American state that has as its capitol, Atlanta.  Georgia would brand itself, becoming synonymous with good wine.  The name of the Georgian wine valley would need to be tweaked of course for marketing purposes (the Georgian language is a bit consonant heavy) and the wine as said would have to be good.  But who then would pick a fight with such a _______ (insert wine description of choice, i.e. elegant, balanced, Audrey Hepburnish) country? Who would dare invade Napa Valley?  Or Champagne?  Or Tuscany?  Not since Bela Karolyi joined American gymnastics would Russia find itself so tongue-tied. Baia Valley, Georgia. The Cradle of Wine.

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[1] http://eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav102109.shtml#