OrthodoxEaster wrote: Wed Nov 20, 2024 7:09 am The Republic of Georgia and its struggle to export better, less industrial wines that reflect its own culture and aesthetics. As opposed to the sweet plonk that goes to the Russian market. A quality vs. quantity discussion and quite similar to sentiments stirring in Ukraine well before Russia invaded Crimea in retaliation:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/worl ... tions.html

"The situation in Kakheti and other wine-producing regions of Georgia reflects a country long torn between great power interests. Many people, particularly younger ones and those living in big cities, want to forge closer ties with Europe, where they see their political future. Others believe it is important to maintain economic stability and therefore stay close to Russia.

The fortunes of Georgia’s winemakers have long been tied to Russia, their biggest market, and one that has grown since sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine cut off a flow of Italian and French wines.

Now many winemakers say it’s time to break that dependence, which comes with considerable political risk, and focus more on European and American markets.... When Georgia was part of the Soviet Union, individual winemaking was prohibited, though many Georgians still produced wine in their cellars, mainly for personal use. Wine manufactured at Soviet factories was typically of low quality and usually sweet....

Over the past two decades, Mr. Joseph said he witnessed a major transformation of the Georgian wine industry. While the industrial production of cheap wines surged, enthusiasts using traditional methods began making smaller quantities of higher quality wine mostly sold in the West.... “The Russian market is an easy market because our wines are well-known and winemakers don’t need to invest money to increase awareness,” Mr. Dakishvili said. “At the same time it is very unstable for political reasons.”

In 2006, following a deterioration in relations between the Kremlin and a new pro-Western government in Tbilisi, Russia banned imports of Georgian wine. The ban lasted seven years, forcing many wineries in Kakheti into bankruptcy. But others were motivated to innovate and seek out other markets....

For the most part, the wines sold to Russia are sweeter and cheaper varieties sold in bulk that might go for a few dollars per bottle in a supermarket, a fraction of prices in boutique wine shops in the West.

“A good direction is getting away from the Russian market” and looking for more profitable outlets, said Tina Kezeli, the head of Georgia’s wine association.

That is partly because, she said, the Russian market “has always been very political,” including a ban on Georgian wines by Moscow after a dispute between the two countries in the 2000s. In Russia, she said, “everything is used as a tool: Either you behave or we close the market.”"