Can Georgian Wine Win Over Global Drinkers?

February 28, 2019BBC NEWS

The former Soviet state of Georgia is considered to be the birthplace of winemaking. But as it aims to boost exports around the world, will its unique wines be too challenging for most drinkers? I am following two men into a dark cellar that feels more like a tomb than part of a winery. Buried underground are a number of qvevri – large lemon-shaped clay pots full of grape juice slowly fermenting into wine. Each of the containers holds 2,000 litres of juice, which is added together with the grape skin and seeds, and left for six months. It is an ancient form of winemaking that historians say was first used in Georgia in at least 5,980 BC. This makes the former Soviet state, located in the Caucasus region south of Russia, the world’s oldest wine-producing country…