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
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