Frequently Asked Questions
Natural Wine Association was established in Tbilisi in 2017 by Georgian winemakers. The Association is an organization of viticulturists/winemakers who use and recognize only natural, organic, bio or biodynamic methods of viticulture and winemaking.
The main goal of the Association is to connect the Association member winemakers with people interested in organic winemaking. The Association wishes to promote natural wines and support everyone sharing the natural wine philosophy.
Guiding documents of the Association can be downloaded from its official web portal www.nwa.ge
The main goal of joining the Association should be the sharing of the viewpoints and philosophy of the Association.
Membership enables the winemakers to take part in exhibitions with limited access in which only the Association members can participate (for example AMERIMERI and ZERO COMPROMISE exhibitions); besides, membership enables the winemakers to take part in the biggest natural wine exhibition in the world – RAW WINE that takes place in such cities as Los Angeles, Berlin, Tokyo, New York etc. Only the members of the Association or bio certified wine cellars from Georgia can take part in those exhibitions.
Membership in the Association helps local wine buyers identify natural wines and, in many cases, this enables the winemakers to sell their products. Besides, the membership also paves the way for the importers to find natural wines more easily and contact winemakers without intermediaries. However, this does not provide any guarantees in terms of product sales.
Besides, travel agencies and guides often access www.nwa.ge webpage in order to find out whether a specific wine cellar is the member of the Association and whether it produces natural wines. This is the only platform where they can search for natural wines.
To join the association, it is necessary to meet the certain criteria, apply for the Association membership, submit relevant documents and successfully pass the 2-year inspection process.
A legal entity that meets the rules of vineyard care and winemaking established by the Association can apply for the membership.
Various factors will be considered when accepting applications, including:
- Identity and number of recommenders;
- The practice of purchasing grapes from other vineyards;
- The maximum number of the Association members set at that moment.
Any candidate winemaker who meets the following conditions can initiate membership in the Association:
- Becomes acquainted with the membership agreement of the Association (Appendix 1) and accepts the responsibility to follow the rules of vineyard care and wine making provided in the said agreement.
- Has completed the membership application on the Association’s official website, and sent it to the Association’s e-mail in the period from January to the end of March. Email: info@nwa.ge. (Applications sent after March will be considered the following year).
- Does not own a conventional vineyard or marani, which includes any vineyard or marani that is not maintained in accordance with the rules of the Association.
- Owns at least 1000 (one thousand) sq.m. vineyard and marani, which must be confirmed by the ownership documents presented by him - extracts from the public register. (A document confirming the ownership of the marani and vineyard signed in the name of parents, siblings, spouse, and/or children is allowed. In such a case, the candidate must present the consent of the owner of the relevant property to join the Association).
- Has paid the initial contribution of the membership fee of the candidate of the Association no later than April 1.
The application deadline is the end of March of the relevant year. The application can be submitted at any time, but only those submitted from January 1 to March 31 will be included in the inspection of the current year. (Applications sent after March will be considered the following year).
Decisions on accepting new members are made by the majority of the Association founding members. The vineyard and cellar inspection reports of the candidates are presented to them, based on which the founders make decisions on accepting new members. Criteria that the founders use are described in detail in the agreement with candidates.