In 2009 Georgia exported around 11 million bottles of wine. In 2024 the figure crossed 100 million. The 2025 number is on track to break the previous record set in pre-Soviet trade history. Georgia is now, by volume, somewhere around the 17th-largest wine exporting nation in the world, ahead of countries like Hungary and Slovakia and beginning to close on the second-tier old-world producers.
That trajectory matters for the destination story we tell. The wine tourism that brings guests to Kakheti (see Wine tourism’s quiet revolution) is the consumer-facing side of a producer base now competing seriously on the world wine market. The medals are real. The export markets are diversifying. The case Georgia makes for itself in the wine world is mature and durable.
The export numbers
Georgia’s National Wine Agency (wine.gov.ge) publishes monthly export figures. The headline picture:
- 2024 export volume: approximately 100 million bottles
- 2024 export value: approximately $260 million USD
- Top destination markets: Russia, China, Ukraine (pre-conflict), Poland, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Belarus, Israel, Germany
- Fastest-growing destination markets: USA, UK, Japan, France, Canada
- Number of countries Georgian wine exported to in 2024: 64
The 64-country figure is the diversification number worth tracking. In 2018 the figure was closer to 50 countries, and the export was substantially concentrated in former-USSR markets. The 2024 distribution is the version of the Georgian wine business that survives any future disruption to its largest single export market. That diversification is the structural change behind the volume growth.
The Decanter shelf
The Decanter World Wine Awards is the most-cited international competition for the sector. Georgia’s performance there over the past five years tells the qualitative half of the story.
Medal counts. Georgian producers won roughly 130-150 medals at Decanter in 2024, a sharp increase from the 60-70 range typical earlier in the decade. The medal categories now regularly include Platinum and Gold tier recognition, not only the more accessible Bronze and Silver tiers.
Categories. The medals span the full range of Georgian wine styles. Amber wines (qvevri-method whites with extended skin contact) win in their own category. Saperavi-based reds win in the dry-red category. Mtsvane, Kisi, Khikhvi and other indigenous varietals are recognised in the white categories.
Beyond Decanter. The IWSC, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, Vinitaly, and the Mundus Vini awards have all run parallel Georgian recognition. Decanter is the cited single benchmark but the broader picture is consistent across the major competitions.
The qualitative shift, as we covered in Wine tourism’s quiet revolution, is that the wines are no longer being judged as exotic curiosities but as serious entries in the standard amber/orange and varietal categories alongside the rest of the wine world.
The varietal map
Georgia’s case for itself rests partly on its indigenous-varietal range. The country has documented 525 distinct native grape varieties. By contrast: France has roughly 220 documented native varieties, Italy around 350. Georgia’s count is materially higher than any other Old-World producer.
In practice, perhaps 30-40 of those varieties are commercially planted at scale. Five matter for the export picture.
Saperavi. The dominant red. A teinturier (red-fleshed) variety that produces wines with deep colour, high tannin, and a 20-30 year aging window for the better producers. The varietal that international restaurant lists most commonly carry.
Rkatsiteli. The dominant white. High-acid, mineral, naturally suited to the qvevri method. Plantings are widespread across the Caucasus historically.
Mtsvane. The “green grape.” Aromatic, floral, and the variety that produces the most internationally accessible Georgian whites once made in steel rather than qvevri.
Khikhvi. A less-planted aromatic white. Growing in international recognition for amber-style production.
Kisi. Late-ripening, qvevri-suited white. The variety that international wine writers describe as Georgia’s most distinctive new export.
The five together cover roughly 80 percent of export volume. The remaining 20 percent comes from blends and the smaller named varietals that producers use to differentiate.
EU access and trade
The EU-Georgia DCFTA (Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement), in effect since 2014, gives Georgian wine duty-free access to the European Union market. This has been operationally significant. EU export volume has grown each year since the agreement entered force, with sub-segments now visible in serious wine markets in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, and the Baltic states.
The agreement also imposed quality and labelling standards consistent with EU expectations, which forced an upgrade in producer quality and traceability. The result is that Georgian wine arriving in EU markets now meets standard EU consumer expectations on labelling, vintage transparency, and producer accountability.
This trade infrastructure is the unglamorous foundation under the medal counts. It is what allows the recognition at Decanter to translate into actual restaurant placement in Berlin, Stockholm, or Amsterdam.
What the next five years look like
Three trends to watch.
The US market continues to grow. Georgian wine on American restaurant lists has been a slow expansion through the 2010s but is accelerating. Major US distribution agreements signed through 2023-2025 are now placing Georgian wines in restaurants from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles. The volume from this expansion is meaningful and replaces some of the regional-market dependence.
The premium price point matures. Most Georgian wine exported sits in the $8-15 retail range. A premium segment above $25 has been thin until recently. Several producers (Pheasant’s Tears, Lagvinari, Alaverdi Monastery’s own label, and the higher Schuchmann tier) are now selling at $30-60 retail in international markets. The premium expansion is what supports the larger qualitative recognition.
Restaurant placement deepens. Beyond list inclusion, Georgian wine is increasingly the by-the-glass programme in serious wine restaurants. The shift from “interesting bottle” to “regular pour” is the commercially significant maturity step.
A closing note from the road
We drive guests to cellars whose wines they have already tasted in their home cities. The producers who used to host curious wine writers now host commercially significant accounts looking to expand their list. The visit is the same visit. The reason for the visit is a different reason.
Georgia is growing into the destination it should always have been. If you’re coming for the wine, or to evaluate it as a buyer, we’ll drive you. Email bookings@soitblack.com to talk about a trip.
Related: Wine tourism’s quiet revolution, The wine roads of Kakheti, Alaverdi Monastery cellar, and Where hospitality FDI is going.