On December 3, the renowned natural wine exhibition RAW WINE 2023 took place in Berlin, the capital of Germany. In recent years, natural wine has become increasingly popular around the world, and Georgian winemakers are actively involved in this movement.

15 Georgian wineries producing natural wine participated in the exhibition with the support of the National Wine Agency and the Georgian Embassy in Germany. Most of the wineries at the Berlin festival are members of the Natural Wine Association.

RAW Wine is one of the leading international exhibitions where producers of high-quality natural, organic and biodynamic wines gather. The organizer of the exhibition is the renowned French master of wine Isabelle Legeron. Besides Berlin, RAW Wine 2023 was also held in New York, Copenhagen and Los Angeles, and Georgian representatives participated in these exhibitions as well.

Most of the Georgian wine displayed in Germany was made in qvevri. Natural wine enthusiasts are drawn to Georgian wine mainly because of the traditional wine vessel - qvevri, and our winemakers try to capitalize on this interest. Most of the wineries that participated in RAW WINE 2023 were from Kakheti. Wines from Imereti and Racha regions were also present as well.

List of participants: 

1. “Winery Kondoli” (Kakheti), 

2. “Lomtadzeebis" Winery” (Kakheti), 

3. “Anbani” (Kakheti), 

4. “Do Re Mi” (Kakheti), 

5. “Pataridze Rachuli” (Racha), 

6. “Chito’s Wine” (Kakheti), 

7. “Malati” (Kakheti),

 8. “Andria’s Wine” (Kakheti), 

9. “Simon Chkheidze Winery” (Imereti), 

10. "Doctor’s Bio Winery (Kakheti), 

11. “Akhmeta Wine House” (Kakheti),

 12. “Makharebeli” (Kakheti), 

13. “Patara Marani” (Kakheti),

 14. “Velino” (Kakheti), 

 15. “Tedo’s Marani” (Kakheti).

Georgian winemakers say that establishing Georgian wine on the European and world markets is clearly a state priority and that supporting wine producers, especially small wineries, requires more efforts and will bring more results.

Shorena Pataridze, Winery “Pataridze Rachuli”: “The interest in Georgian natural wines was very high in Berlin. Visitors who were already familiar with Georgian wine came to the exhibition, tasted our wines and appreciated them. This is a very good exhibition and it should be noted that such support from the Natural Wine Association and the National Wine Agency is very important for small wineries.”

Giorgi Volski, “Andria’s Wine”: “The Berlin exhibition, compared to other Raw Wines exhibitions, was less crowded. That’s why it lasted for one day. Bad weather conditions occurred this year. My flight to Berlin was also canceled - they diverted the plane to Frankfurt instead of Munich and then I had to take a train. Moreover, there were severe frosts, which caused travel delays and consequently fewer people at the exhibition. I know that many people faced problems like me - both the winemakers and the attendees who wanted to come. However, despite this, there were more people at the exhibition than expected. Interest in Georgian wine is increasing significantly. Not only wine enthusiasts came, but also winemakers from other countries (especially French and Italians), who tasted the wines and then asked us about the technology.”

Nino Gzirishvili, “Tedo’s Marani”: “It was interesting to participate in the Berlin festival for the second time in a row. The future will show how effective it will be. First of all, people who had heard about Georgian wine came. Many of them, according to our observation, recommended each other where to go, that is, those who had already tasted and liked our wines. The unusual label of our winery attracted the attention of the visitors. We offered some of them a taste, invited them and drank with them. The rest of the Georgian wineries all have their own interesting direction. Many more people visited the representatives of the wineries of Italy, Spain and other famous wine-growing countries. It seems that more information is needed to raise the awareness of Georgian wine in Europe. Such exhibitions are a very good way to see and compare Georgian wine with different wines of the world and to appreciate the difference more clearly.”

150 natural wine producers from 20 countries participated in the Berlin exhibition. Meeting with wine distributors and importers was the main goal of both Georgian and foreign winemakers at the exhibition. People interested in natural wine from many countries of the world attended such exhibitions and often made business deals there.

Levan Sebiskveradze