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.”

Source

Moscow Launches on Eve of Nobel/SOFA

On the eve that President Obama was to receive his Nobel Peace Prize, Moscow decided to fire one of its submarine-launched Bulava missiles over Oslo, lighting up the night sky with a curious blue streak (see VIDEO). The Bulava-30 is Russia's most advanced SLBM, capable of carrying up to 10 nuclear MIRV warheads.  

The launch was a clear statement of defiance to NATO's Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which was slated to be signed today, December 10, between the US and Poland.

The theatrics come two weeks after a November 26 meeting in Berlin between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, where the Secretary General voiced concerns about the possibility of a nuclear-armed Tehran: 

"It might of course eventually become NATO business as well, because then it is a question of protecting our territories and our populations against a potential threat.  To that end, we are right now considering the possibility to establish missile defense which also covers Europe."

In September, Obama shelved the previous administration's plans to place 10 long-range ground-based interceptor missiles in Poland and a fixed-site radar station in the Czech Republic.  

The SOFA deal was a prerequisite to setting up a US ground-to-air missile base in Poland. (US officials say deployment should start in 2010). The new U.S. plan would place ship-based SM-3s in the North and Mediterranean seas in 2011, and mobile land-based SM-3s in Central Europe by 2015.

In contrast to the previous system which was strongly opposed by Russia, the new multidirectional radars and missiles would not be able to penetrate deep into Russia's territory.  

Nonetheless, Moscow has a flare for making its displeasures known. 

Update on December 11, 2009 by aSoS

Washington and Warsaw today signed an accord on the legal status of U.S. soldiers stationed in Poland (SOFA) that is a prerequisite for the deployment of Patriot air defenses in the European country.

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#