“I am excited to join the press trip for the New Wine Festival 2015. We are a group of 7 media specialists ranging from traditional wine and food writing, travel media and a radio show. I think it is a fantastic opportunity for guests to try a variety of different wines and to try the new vintages of smaller producers. Guest will also experience how fun Georgian festivals are, with singing and dancing. I am really excited that my friends will finally get a taste of Georgia. I love Georgia and I hope they will as well. I am especially excited to taste the new vintage of Mandili."

Sarah May Grunwald, Sommelier. Wine Blogger

"Wine is a masquerade substance - creator of people's cheerful unity. If we follow down the roots of the masquerade, we shall find Dionysias, mysteries of Dionysus, God of Wine. There were small and big Dionysias. As for New Wine Festival, it is a kind of small Dionysia, beautifying the city and even strengthening the nature and outlines of the city itself. Here you don't meet with just another drunkards and wine-wanderers, but creative, intelligent characters, perfectly mixing powers of wine and word together." 

Zurab Karumidze, writer

It was 2011, when I first visited "New Wine Festival as a guest. I was very interested in wines from various regions of Georgia. I inquired how I could participate in the Festival, how to present my wines. Soon, I became the member of the Wine Club, attended the lectures, meetings and in 2012, I became the Festival participant. I participated in 2014 and my wine will be presented among family wines, this year, as well. Festival gives great opportunity to introduce with people's opinions, views regarding my wine. Sometimes, my family members joke that New Wine Festival is more important for me than New Year and it is truly so. My winemaking grows step by step together with the Wine Club. This is a matter of national importance, our consciousness and approach are being developed in this direction. More and more new people are planning winemaking activities in Georgia. I am beekeeper as well and I dream that beekeeping had the same supporter as is Wine Club for the Georgian wine."

Gogi Dvalishvili, Family winemaker from the Village of Khidistavi

"'I'm eagerly looking forward for the New Wine Festival every year, being held in pretty good environment and giving the chance to sample high quality wines. As usual, I visit the Festival together with my friends, we are enjoying our time and sample the wines. Every year, I warn my foreign tourists to concur their vacations/holidays with the wine festival and they also recommend their friends to plan their holidays for the beginning of May and visit the New Wine Festival."

Paata Vardanashvili, Photographer, Tourism professional

"On the first hand, New Wine Festival is important for developing wine consumption culture in Georgia, which is not quite well developed for now. Majority of people are still drinking wine for just being drunk. This is because that wine has passed the hardest period in Georgia in terms of the Soviet Union, especially when the wine was focused on scheduled producing. Today, picture has changed due to diligent endeavors of wine enthusiasts and professionals. Thanks to the New Wine Festival and other festivals as well, there appeared many people, targeted on making good wine, rather than making good money from it. As for me, thanks to this Festival again, I can already speak about wine characteristics as an amateur and I dare say that this is the best event, held in Tbilisi during this season."

Levan Kitia, Film director 

“First thought coming into my head, when I’m thinking about this Festival is that, how come that there are so many drunk people gathered in one place and still environment feels so good that I’m surprised. This is the place, where I meet there friends from every generation and that is why I came here at first, but later on we have introduced with the wines as well. It is strange, how we can introduce and understand the wine types, when there is only one year in the year. . . but in fact, you have the chance to sample various wines, to talk with your friends and share your feelings and thoughts about it. Then you have the entire year ahead to find the same wine. We are calling each other, trying to remind the wine, ooh, hey, what was the name of that sweet wine? or what was the name of that old man’s wine . . . don’t know actually that in one day you may fall in love with wine, when you are neither a kind of frequent consumer, nor impressed with the traditions for catching interest in wine history and toasts from childhood. In a nutshell, New Wine Festival is the only place in Georgia, where the wine is a friend of human being, equally for everyone.”

Irakli Gujabidze, Alpinist

“Every single year, I’m eagerly waiting for the Festival. This is the day of freedom, happiness, love and not so much peace. We do have wine diversity at the Festival, now it is desirable to have diversity of “Street Cuisine”, Georgian at first and international, later on. Year to year, quality of Festival wines are being developed and I expect that kind diversity will also increase in the course of time”. 

Irakli Cholobargia, marketer, National Wine Agency

“You cannot even imagine how I wait for the New Wine Festival. Why? This is the Festival of the culture and tradition that brought us to this very day. First of all, we have the chance to taste new wines from various regions of Georgia, especially wines made from unique kinds of vine, which is not so much affordable today. Personally, I always know the wines at the Festival, I shall recommend for my tourists and which cellars I shall visit together with my guests. Thus, I negotiate with winemakers, right at the Festival. On the other hand, the Festival is a drive for winemakers and wine lovers, for many people it is the sparkle to success.’

Maka Tarashvili, Tourist Guide, Wine expert

© Wine Club, Wine Informational Center