{"id":1323,"date":"2024-08-02T12:18:43","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T12:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iwsc-georgia.ge\/?p=1323"},"modified":"2025-08-08T11:05:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T11:05:03","slug":"david-kermode-iwsc-judges-in-georgia-blown-away-by-the-quality-of-georgian-wines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iwsc-georgia.ge\/2024\/en\/david-kermode-iwsc-judges-in-georgia-blown-away-by-the-quality-of-georgian-wines\/","title":{"rendered":"David Kermode: IWSC Judges in Georgia blown away by the quality of Georgian wines"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere\u2019s been a huge step forward in the top end wines and we have found some absolutely world class examples \u2013 the improvement over the last decade has been really quite remarkable.\u201d That was the assessment of Alistair Cooper MW who headed up the judging panel of UK wine professionals to travel to Georgia and put its wines through the rigorous IWSC judging process. Fellow judge, David Kermode, reports back on what was a breakthrough trip for the quality of Georgian wines, and a chance to see how far Georgian wines have come in recent years.<\/p>\n

Georgia offers the wine lover a captivating contradiction: to most of us, it still represents something new, a voyage of discovery, yet its wine culture is almost as old as the hills on which the vines are planted, characterised by a style of winemaking that has scarcely changed in 8,000 years.<\/p>\n

Roughly the size of Scotland, with a strategically important location between the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains, fertile soils and a relatively benign climate, it has always found itself coveted by neighbours, hence an exhausting history punctuated by struggles for independence.<\/p>\n

When the Iron Curtain fell, Georgia became the Soviet Union\u2019s wine region: both a blessing and a curse.Producing wines from factories, the emphasis was on quantity over quality, however, it did at least mean that viticulture survived, albeit based on two dominant varieties, Rkatsiteli and Saperavi.Georgia actually boasts 525 indigenous grapes, with some having survived in back gardens before being nurtured back to life at the country\u2019s impressive grape research centre.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

This was the first time the IWSC had held not only a judging session in Georgia but put on an actual awards ceremony for its producers too<\/p>\n

As if a treasure trove of distinctive varieties once threatened with extinction was not sufficient to tempt us, Georgia also offers the archetype for a now-fashionable style of winemaking in amphora, with orange wines (the Georgians prefer \u2018amber\u2019) produced from clay pots buried underground (known as \u2018qvevri\u2019) which still represent as much as ten percent of the country\u2019s output.<\/p>\n

An international perspective<\/strong><\/p>\n

Georgia has a fraught relationship with its domineering northern neighbour Russia \u2013 still its biggest customer for wine \u2013 but as the country\u2019s political leaders have nurtured relations with the EU and NATO, its wine industry has also been looking west, building successful new markets.<\/p>\n

Precise figures for exports to the UK are hard to quantify, as many UK imports now come via European intermediate countries, but we know that sales have been booming, rising ten fold between 2017 and 2021, from around 70,000 to 700,000 bottles.With further growth in mind,\u00a0Georgia\u2019s National Wine Agency<\/a>\u00a0has been working with the IWSC to bring its international judges back to the country for a second time, to assess wines in situ, marking the start of the 2024 competition.<\/p>\n

Forming part of the\u00a0Gurjaani Wine Festival<\/a>, the judging took place in Kakheti, Georgia\u2019s largest wine region, with over 500 entries, including a number from neighbouring Armenia and Azerbaijan. Master of Wine Alistair Cooper\u00a0led the assessment process, supported by four teams consisting of renowned experts and buyers, including Cat Lomax,\u00a0Will Hill, Emma Penman,\u00a0Georgios Iordanidis,\u00a0Melania Battiston,\u00a0Zara Serobyan, Salvatore Castano and myself, with each panel also featuring local experts.<\/p>\n

The judges\u2019 verdict<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Alistair Cooper MW says he has seen a \u201cqualitative leap forward\u201d in the quality of Georgian wines tasted<\/p>\n

Announcing that he was \u201cthoroughly impressed,\u201d Cooper outlined the striking improvement in quality that he had observed during the judging process:\u201cThis was my second visit to Georgia, my first being four or five years ago, and I have seen a qualitative leap forward.On my previous visit, we had some hygiene issues with certain wines, but we have seen a lot less of that this time. There\u2019s been a huge step forward in the top end wines and we have found some absolutely world class examples. The improvement over the last decade has been really quite remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

In all, 285 medals were awarded to Georgian wines, including an impressive 18 golds, more than 70 silvers and over 190 bronze medals.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the top white wines to which we awarded golds were so memorable; the aromas, the personality of the individual grapes. They have an individuality stamped onto them,\u201d said Lomax, a consultant who has worked with retailers including Laithwaite\u2019s, Majestic Wine and M&S, as she urged wineries to pay attention to the judges\u2019 constructive feedback, a key element of the IWSC\u2019s proposition: \u201cI was really pleased to see so few hygiene faults (however) there were still some potentialissues with oxidation in some of the wines.If you get feedback from us, as a group of wine judges, that your wine is slightly oxidised that\u2019s definitely something to look at and consider.\u201d<\/p>\n

Qvevri wines shine<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

The judging brought together top UK wine professionals who travelled to Georgia to take part and judge alongside local experts<\/p>\n

Demonstrating that heritage styles continue to deliver wines of distinction for Georgia, examples made in qvevri received eight gold medals and many more silver and bronze awards, with the highest-scoring wine of the judging sessions being a qvevri wine \u2013 Kardanakhi 1888 LLC Tsarapi 2020 \u2013 which earned 97 points, the judges labelling it a \u2018superstar\u2019 wine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been some exceptional qvevri wines. The ability these wines have to age is really quite remarkable,\u201d said Cooper.<\/p>\n

Hill, buying director for Novel Wines, said it was heartening to see heritage winemaking flourish: \u201cThe texture that can come from using qvevri is something that you don\u2019t really get from other vessels \u2026 it gives such a unique character with added dimensions as the wines age. The drying finish needs to be carefully controlled but that gives something really unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the qvevri wines she had tasted, Lomax was also impressed: \u201cMy big takeaway is that it really allows aromatics and perfume to remain in the wine. You get the character of the grape really coming through in an expressive way.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Sommelier Melania Battiston, previously of The Medlar, took part in the IWSC judging<\/p>\n

Voyage of discovery<\/strong><\/p>\n

During a\u00a0filmed discussion<\/a>\u00a0we enthused about the sheer diversity of the wines we\u2019d tasted:\u201cThere were so many different styles on show and not just from one variety to another, but regionally too, (with) winemaking decisions that were very clear in the glass, so it has been really encouraging to see this kind of diversity \u2026 there is so much here to discover,\u201d said Hill.<\/p>\n

Saperavi performed strongly, with varietal wines winning five gold medals, the highest-scoring example coming from Mildiani Family Winery, which was also the most decorated producer across the judging, with a haul of 13 medals.<\/p>\n

Drawing parallels with Malbec, Cooper talked of the potential for Georgia\u2019s dominant red grape: \u201cSaperavi is user friendly and accessible (so) it has a lot to offer.It\u2019s a wild, juicy and inviting grape variety with the potential to age very well and it\u2019s also easy (for consumers) to pronounce \u2026 One thing that really struck me was the judicious use of oak which was really quite restrained.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

The judging was an opportunity for the UK judges to also experience Georgia, its culture and winemaking traditions<\/p>\n

With her extensive retail experience, Lomax agreed that Saperavi offered huge opportunity for Georgia: \u201cIn terms of the overall style, it\u2019s a really rich, ripe and juicy variety with a load of character and that\u2019s exactly what consumers are looking for. The more successful wines are where the tannins have been reined in and are not too dominant. Malbec as a grape variety is going like a train in the UK, with exponential growth year on year, so offering consumers something (from Saperavi)which is stylistically similar, but a little bit different, feels like a great next step.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it came to the whites, there was an even spread of gold medals for wines produced from Rkatsiteli, Georgia\u2019s dominant white grape, and also Khikhvi, Mtsvane Kakhuri and Kisi, with Cooper suggesting the latter variety could have serious potential in the UK market: \u201cKisi is floral and aromatic, but not overtly so. With minerality on the palate (and) it is very much in line with what\u2019s trendy at the moment, say Gr\u00fcner or Albari\u00f1o.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what does the future hold for Georgia\u2019s burgeoning wine industry?Well, based on my own experience showcasing some of the top 2023 IWSC medal winners at the Georgian Wine Festival, at Devon\u2019s Dartington Estate last October, there\u2019s a real appetite for its wines among curious UK consumers, though pronouncing some of its grape names remains a challenge, even for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe names can be a hurdle to overcome,\u201d admits Hill. \u201cI think we have to put the trust in some of our specialist retailers and restaurants, where there is time for a hand sell and there is someone to guide (consumers), because it opens the door to a whole new world of exciting wines for people to try.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere\u2019s been a huge step forward in the top end wines and we have found some absolutely world class examples \u2013 the improvement over the last decade has been really quite remarkable.\u201d That was the assessment of Alistair Cooper MW who headed up the judging panel of UK wine professionals to travel to Georgia and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDavid Kermode: IWSC Judges in Georgia blown away by the quality of Georgian wines - IWSC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iwsc-georgia.ge\/2024\/en\/david-kermode-iwsc-judges-in-georgia-blown-away-by-the-quality-of-georgian-wines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"David Kermode: IWSC Judges in Georgia blown away by the quality of Georgian wines - 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