GEORGIA: Georgians celebrate record grape harvest, but future for grape growers looks grim

To celebrate Georgia's bountiful grape crop this autumn, a huge vat holding fresh grapes was set up in central Tbilisi on Sunday (October 24) to traditionally press the grapes into juice. Georgia's Agriculture Ministry forecasts the 2005 grape harvest at 250,000 tonnes, a huge increase from last year's 150,000 tonnes. The event, organised as part of the annual city festival of the Georgian capital, known as Tbilisoba, saw thousands of people participating. Young boys in traditional costumes emptied crates of freshly harvested white grapes into a wooden vat which organisers said was the largest grape vat in the world. "This is the biggest vat in the world, a vat which can fit in fifty people at a time. And that is the first of its kind event in Tbilisi, and not only in Tbilisi, but in the whole world. We hope that the wine which will be produced after that event will be bottled and will be sent to the whole world as an example of the wine pressing for peace," said Nata Machaladze, organiser of the event. Men in black rubber boots then danced arm-in-arm on the grapes, effectively squeezing the grapes into juice. This year has seen a record grape harvest in Georgia, but a large part of the harvest will go to waste as winegrowers in Georgia find it harder and harder to sell their product. One of the oldest wine cultures in the world, the Georgian wine industry has suffered ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Under Soviet rule, the state bought almost everything that was grown at set prices. The local wine industry flourished and Georgian wine was sold well beyond the Caucasus. But after independence in 1991, Georgia's wine industry was privatised and farmers were no longer guaranteed that the government would purchase a certain portion of their harvest. At the same time, the cost of growing grapes increased while the amount of Georgian wine being consumed plummeted, since many markets within the former Soviet Union dried up, and the price of grapes dropped sharply. Analysts say only 15 to 20 percent of the grapes harvested this year will be processed in wineries.

ITN Source | October 29, 2005

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