Wine Festival Tbilisi, Georgia

If you are in Tbilisi, Georgia, and it’s May, you probably shouldn’t miss one of the most popular events in Tbilisi- New Wine Festival. This is an annual festival, which was first held 10 years ago (in 2008). The name tells you almost everything about that festival, but as it is my favourite day in May, I’m going to tell you with every detail you will receive, if you attend that festival.First of all, this is a dream-day for Wine Lovers- can you imagine delicious, more than 45 different species of wine, you can taste all of them in one day, For FREE ! this is almost unbelievable. You can just walk between the tables, which belongs to different wine companies or the family-wine owners and taste any kind of wine you would like to.

There are medium-sized family wineries, as well as those famous big wine companies from all regions of Georgia. The visitors are able to taste those sweet drinks during the day. Attending is free for everyone. The festival will start as usual with big wine-jar’s opening which is the partner of this festival within the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia. After the opening, the visitors will be able to taste not only the wine, but also unique, different kinds of Georgian Cheese, best Churchkhela and dried fruit, Georgian known delicious hot bread, varied traditional music and everything. Also, you will feel dizzy with the smell of newly fried shashlik, which you can buy and eat as much as you want.

You can also take a memoriable motion picture at Giffer, and share your emotions form festival, but this is not everything ! Here will be held wine competition, where companies and small family wineries will show their wine to people, doesn’t matter what is the origin, if she/he is tourist or not, most important thing is the valuing of wines. At the end of the competition there will be established the list of “10 wine you should drink while you are alive!” this is the project, which helps Georgian wine to be more famous and affordable for everyone, around the world. There is also a group of sommeliers, who are like “mystic consumers,” and at the end of the day their identity will be known to everyone.

The main goal of the festival is to raise people’s knowledge about Georgian wine, its traditions, that’s why there are always many tourists, who can enjoy every taste of glass for free and have fun, listen to music with friends, take pictures and never forget about that day. For example, in 2016 the New Wine Festival hosted more than 40 000 visitors, and among them were foreigner tourists.

Everyone knows that Georgia is a wine-country, but still, this festival is new for us, even Georgian’s and brings happiness in everyday life, for me, this is one of the loveliest day in summer, and am looking forward to this day like an obsessed one. Here you can also read bilingual brochures about every wine you taste. So, last several years month of May in Tbilisi feels great not just because of blooming nature and splendid weather, but also because the New Wine Festival is held in the city.

The young wine is ready and waits for the moment, when wine lovers come to taste. Everyone, travellers, bloggers, journalists, winemakers, sommeliers, just city roaming lovers come here every year and celebrate almost the day of Dionysus, wine country, wine lovers ! that’s what I can say. The god of the grape harvest from Greek Mythology would be happy if he had seen that day. Traditional Georgian barbeques and fresh bread are available at the festival to try keeping you sober.
Accompanied by Georgian dances and songs performances, the festival lasts the whole weekend. Outdoors, under the warm May sun the wine tastes gorgeous!

The Georgian Wine Club will host its tenth New Wine Festival on May 12, 2018. It is not only wine producers that look forward to the festival every year. Both Georgian and foreign wine professionals, wine writers, wine bars and restaurants, wine enthusiasts make arrangements for this pleasant Meetup. So do the world’s famous wine masters, sommeliers, importers and wine writers, who make sure the second Saturday of May is well saved on their calendars. The fans of the Georgian wine will be welcome at the Mtatsminda Park on Saturday, May 12, 2018, so don't miss it.