Heads of diplomatic missions in Tbilisi judged wines at Saperavi World Prize 2017 tasting

Wines of best-known Georgian variety from all over the world are judged in Georgia for the first time. The Jury included Ambassador of Switzerland H.E. Lukas BEGLINGER and Head of NATO Mission in Georgia H.E. William LAHUE. Saperavi World Prize 2017 tasting was held on December 15th in Tbilisi, on the premises of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Georgia).
Saperavi World Prize 2017 (“SapPrize”) is the new international wine contest in Georgia, which brings together the wines from winemakers from around the world who use the Saperavi variety.  Saperavi is a grape variety native to Georgia, which is becoming increasingly popular with winemakers around the world. 

Entry in SapPrize is free – there is no participation fee. The slogan of the contest is “Made globally, awarded in Georgia”, because in 2017 SapPrize is open to winemakers from abroad (outside Georgia) who produce wines from Saperavi variety.Official website of SapPrize is sapprize.hvino.com.
Small and large wineries from several continents have submitted wine samples to SapPrize. Wines came from Australia (14 wines), United States (4 wines), Azerbaijan (3 samples), Kazakhstan (2 samples), Russia (2 samples) and one wine each from Armenia and New Zealand.

The Jury included:
Mr. Andro BARNOVI (Georgia), Georgian Federation of Artisan Wine
H.E. Lukas BEGLINGER (Switzerland), Swiss Ambassador to Georgia
H.E. William LAHUE (USA), Head of the NATO Liaison Office in Georgia
Mr. Paul RODZIANKO (USA), JSC Cradle of Wine
Ms. Ute SEITZ (Germany), wine expert
Mr. Berthold SEITZ (Germany), wine expert
Mr. Kakha TCHOTIASHVILI (Georgia), Tchotiashvili Family Vineyards

Awards
Saperavi World Prize will award unique and precious prizes, hand-made by leading Georgian jewelers from Zenaari company – official partner of SapPrize. The gold, silver, and bronze prizes will be miniature copies of “azarpesha” - ancient Georgian wine vessels, usually made of silver or gold. These richly decorated objects, which are now rare antique collectibles, where chosen by SapPrize organizers to underline special role of wine in Georgia’s history and culture.
The winners of Saperavi World Prize will be announced at a special ceremony, the date of which will be specified later.

Quotes by International Wine Experts:
n         “It is really wonderful that there is now a special event for Saperavi a grape so strongly associated with Georgia and its wines. I would like to wish great success to this very exciting event”, said Gerard Basset - one of the world’s most distinguished wine experts. Mr. Basset is World Champion Sommelier, Master of Wine, Wine MBA, and Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
n         “A Saperavi World Prize sounds a very exciting initiative and should certainly help raise awareness for Georgia’s iconic red grape variety… I had no idea that there were plantings of Saperavi in Australia and the US”, - commented Rosemary George, Master of Wine (UK), author of 11 books on wine, including «The Wines of the South of France», «The Wines of New Zealand», «Walking Through the Vineyards of Tuscany», «The Wines of Chablis».

About the Organizers:
Saperavi World Prize 2017 is organized by Hvino News with support of ICC Georgia.
Hvino News is the world’s primary news and information resource on Georgian wine, published daily since 2012, in English and Russian languages. Its traffic has exceeded one million views, reaching readers in over 160 countries.
ICC Georgia is the largest and most vocal global Business Association in the country; it includes over 350 corporate and youth members and 28 business associations. The International Chamber of Commerce is the largest business organization in the world that includes over 6.5 million businesses and chambers of commerce. 

Patrons and Sponsors:
Saperavi Wine Prize 2017 is organized under patronage of:   
Embassies of Georgia in USA and Australia (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia); Revenue Service (Ministry of Finance of Georgia); National Intellectual Property Center “Sakpatenti”; Wine Tourism Association; Georgian Wine Club.
Sponsors:

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