Saakashvili Slams Georgian Wine-Makers, Agriculture Ministry
On May 10 Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili slammed the Georgian Agriculture Ministry and Georgian winemakers for their inactivity in promoting Georgian wines on new markets
During a government session, which was broadcasted by the Georgian television stations, President Saakashvili displayed three bottles of, as he said, falsified Georgian wine. Saakashvili told the cabinet members that he bought these wines in a supermarket while visiting Vilnius, Lithuania.
“I have seen these [bottles of wines] in supermarkets in the Baltic States, where this so called ‘Georgian’ wine is sold very enthusiastically. This one [referring to one of the bottles on the table] is Kingmarauli, instead of Kindzmarauli [a type of Georgian wine]; there seems to be no one who can properly write in Georgian where this wine is produced in Bulgaria. This one [referring to another bottle of wine] is Svanchkara [instead of the authentic Khvanchkara], which is also produced in Bulgaria. And this last masterpiece [referring to a third bottle of wine] is the Spanish-produced Khvanjvara… [signaling to an aid] Please open this… Mikho [referring to Agriculture Minister Mikheil Svimonishvili] come here with your glass and taste this… What it is?” Saakashvili asked the Agriculture Minister and continued, “this is cheap Spanish wine.”
“Why is this bottle displayed in Europe instead of real Khvanchkara? While the Georgian Agriculture Ministry is sleeping and most of our wine-makers – to say it bluntly – are sleeping, smart Bulgarian, Spanish, Lithuanian, and Czech wine-producers, or whatever they are, who might not know Georgian but know marketing very well are successfully gaining access to markets and making hundred of millions of dollars while our real Khvanchkara, Saperavi and Kindzmarauli [grapes]are rotting here,” Saakashvili said.
He also unleashed criticism towards those Georgian wine-makers who expressed discontent regarding the Georgian authorities’ policy towards Russia, which, according to these producers, resulted in Russia’s decision to ban the import of Georgina wine.
“I have heard a very stupid statement made by one of the wine-producers, who said that ‘the Georgian government made us lose the Russian market and is now looking for mythic new markets in Europe and China.’ Is this a mythic market [referring again to the bottles of wine]? This is a concrete, real market for Georgian wine. And this federation of wine-producers, which is cursing us, would do better to stand up and take our wines to the Baltic States, to Poland, to Ukraine and to take them to the very same supermarket [where these three bottles of wine were bought], whose director told us that these wines sell well. The price of this wine [referring again to the falsified wines] is 6, 7, 8 US dollars,” Saakashvili said.
