Wine companies from seven countries are taking part in the 15th international exhibition of wine and alcoholic beverages WINEXPO 2023, which opened at the Expo Georgia exhibition center in Tbilisi, according to the press service of the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture of Georgia.

WINEXPO is one of the largest wine-making events in the Caucasus region. The exhibition runs from June 2-4, from 11:00 to 19:00 local time. Up to 200 companies from Georgia, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Turkey, Ukraine and Armenia participate in the event.

"For several years the state has been implementing a number of important measures to popularize Georgian wine, as a result of which today the whole world knows that Georgia is the birthplace of wine with an 8,000-year history of continuous vintage (grape harvesting - ed.)," said Minister of Environment and Agriculture Otar Shamugia at the opening of WINEXPO.

According to him, Georgian wine export figures are increasing every year.

"Last year we exported a record 103 million liters of wine, which is 23 million more than the previous year's data. I think those are pretty big numbers. And this year it is important that we maintain this growth momentum. This is the result of our cooperation, the private sector and the state, and I am sure that this result will improve even more," said the Minister.

According to Shamugia, in the future the state will allocate even more funds to present Georgian wine at all important events and exhibitions.

Promoting Georgian wine in strategic markets is a priority for the Georgian government. Wine ranks fifth in exports from Georgia, accounting for 4.5% of all exports. Russia has been a major exporter for years.

In 2022, up to 103 million liters of wine worth $252.5 million will be exported from Georgia to 66 countries.

In 2022, 63.7 percent of total wine exports went to Russia, where 73.1 thousand tons of wine worth $160.8 million were shipped.

In addition to producers WinExpo 2023 takes exporters, sommeliers, representatives of hotels, restaurants, retail chains and international media and, of course, wine lovers from around the world.

At the exhibition, as in previous years, with the support of the National Wine Agency about 40 small, medium and family wineries of Georgia will present to visitors their products, different types of wines, including quavers and biodynamic wines.

The event is one of the important platforms for Georgian producers to present their products to consumers, find partners and increase export opportunities.

In addition to the products of large wine and spirits companies, small, medium and family wineries, the exhibition presents the existing technologies in the wine industry, packaging and auxiliary materials, equipment for winegrowing and winemaking, fertilizers, accessories, services, etc.