Trade and markets

Georgian wine exports hit record high as amber wine finds global audience

2026-10-14 · Source: National Wine Agency of Georgia

Key figures

Export volume 2026 (Jan–Sep) 92 million bottles — up 18% year-on-year

Top export markets Russia (historically dominant), EU, China, USA (fastest growing)

Key varieties Rkatsiteli (white), Saperavi (red), Mtsvane (white), Kisi (amber)

Amber/skin-contact share Now 12% of premium export volume, up from 4% in 2020

Qvevri production Traditional clay jar fermentation; UNESCO-listed cultural heritage since 2013

A record year for Georgian exports

Georgia's National Wine Agency reports 92 million bottles exported in the first nine months of 2026 — an 18% increase on the same period in 2025, and a new record for the country. While Russia remains the largest single market (accounting for roughly 60% of total volume), the composition of exports is shifting: EU, US and Chinese markets are growing rapidly, and premium amber and qvevri wines now represent 12% of value in those higher-margin markets, up from just 4% in 2020. The shift reflects a broader global interest in skin-contact whites and traditional winemaking that has positioned Georgia's 8,000-year winemaking history as a competitive advantage rather than a curiosity.

The country sits at the intersection of the Black Sea and Caucasus mountains, in a landscape where wild Vitis vinifera vines still grow in forest margins. Genetic research has consistently identified the Caucasus region as among the most likely origin points for cultivated viticulture. The Kakheti region in eastern Georgia — home to most premium qvevri production — produces Rkatsiteli and Saperavi on free-draining alluvial soils in a continental climate with warm summers and cold winters. See the cool and warm climate styles guide for how climate shapes wine character.

Amber wine's global moment

Amber wine — white wine with extended skin contact, producing tannin and deep colour — has moved from a niche curiosity in natural wine circles to a recognisable category on restaurant wine lists in London, New York, Copenhagen and Tokyo. The growth is partly fashion, partly substance: amber wines occupy a flavour profile no other category covers (tannic, complex, often oxidative whites), and their food affinity is unusually broad. Georgian Rkatsiteli Qvevri pairs as comfortably with grilled meats as with complex vegetable dishes. The wider context of skin-contact and natural winemaking is covered in the natural wine sulphite debate.

Sources: National Wine Agency of Georgia (export statistics 2026); OIV (world vitiviniculture reports); UNESCO ICH (qvevri winemaking cultural heritage listing). Published: 2026-10-14. Corrections via the contact form.

Questions

About Georgian wine and amber wine.

What is amber wine?

Amber wine (also called orange wine or skin-contact white wine) is a white wine made by fermenting white grape juice in prolonged contact with the grape skins — sometimes for weeks or months. This extraction gives the wine a deep golden or amber colour, tannin (rare in white wine), and a more complex, often oxidative flavour profile: dried fruit, nuts, tea, resin and spice. Georgia is the historic heartland of this technique: the qvevri method — fermenting and ageing wine in buried clay jars — has been practiced in the Caucasus for 8,000 years and is the world's oldest documented winemaking tradition. See winemaking methods for how skin contact works.

What are the main Georgian grape varieties?

Georgia has over 500 documented indigenous grape varieties — more than any country outside perhaps Italy. The most commercially important are: Rkatsiteli (white), a high-acid variety that produces both crisp dry whites and rich amber wines; Saperavi (red), a deeply coloured, tannic grape that makes Georgia's most celebrated reds; Mtsvane (white), lighter and aromatic; Kisi and Chinuri (whites well-suited to qvevri fermentation). The diversity is remarkable — the country is effectively a genetic library of Vitis vinifera. The terroir glossary entry and appellations guide cover how geography shapes these varieties.

What is a qvevri?

A qvevri (also spelled kvevri) is a large, egg-shaped clay vessel, lined with beeswax, buried up to its neck in the ground. Wine is fermented and aged inside the sealed qvevri, which maintains a constant cool temperature and allows slow, micro-oxidative ageing similar to that of oak barrels — but without wood flavours. The buried earth acts as a natural temperature regulator. Traditional Georgian winemaking places the whole grape harvest — skins, seeds and all — into the qvevri for fermentation, producing the deeply coloured amber wines the region is known for. The UNESCO listing of qvevri winemaking as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013 raised the method's international profile significantly.

How does Georgian wine fit into the natural wine movement?

Georgia's qvevri tradition — minimal intervention, indigenous yeasts, skin contact, no added sulphites in traditional production — aligns closely with the principles of the natural wine movement, and Georgian producers were among the first to be championed by natural wine importers in Europe in the early 2000s. The Georgian winemaker Ramaz Nikoladze is often credited as one of the earliest to bring qvevri wines to international audiences. However, the Georgian wine industry is large and diverse: modern, commercial Georgian wine (much of it exported to Russia and China) is made using conventional methods and has little in common with traditional qvevri production. See the natural wine sulphite debate.