On May 31, the Bolnisi PDO Wine Festival was held with support of RMG.
Held for the fourth time, the festival aims to promote wines with a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) while strengthening the positioning of Bolnisi – the town of Golden Wine on Georgia’s wine map.
“RMG has been supporting the development of local winemaking since 2018. Four years ago, we became a co-founder of the Bolnisi PDO Wine Festival, and today we can already see how significantly the festival has grown, both in terms of participants and visitors. We are proud that Kvemo Kartli and Bolnisi are increasingly establishing themselves as one of the modern centers of Georgian winemaking,” said Kakhaber Mtchedlishvili, Corporate Director of RMG.
As is tradition, around 60 wineries from across Georgia participated in the festival. The exhibitors included large-scale producers, as well as small and medium-sized wineries and family-owned cellars — all producing wines with the Protected Designation of Origin status.
Ahead of the festival, a wine competition was held at the Georgian-German Wine House in Bolnisi. During a blind tasting, an internationally experienced jury evaluated 144 wine samples representing 21 PDO wine samples.
This year, 43 wines received Bronze awards, 45 received Silver awards, and 10 wines earned Gold medals. Two wines were distinguished with the competition’s highest honor, Grand Gold:
- Avtandil Iromashvili Marani – Tsarapi 2024
- Ruispiri Winery – Kindzmarauli 2023
The ten highest-scoring wines from the competition will be showcased at the 2026 Merano WineFestival in Italy.
The festival attracted a record number of visitors from across Georgia. Guests included wine experts, importers, international wine bloggers, and Helmuth Köcher, Founder and President of the Merano WineFestival, who welcomed the initiative to present the winning wines from the Bolnisi PDO Wine Festival at Merano WineFestival in Italy.
As part of the event, ten successful Georgian sommeliers representing the HoReCa sector selected their favorite wines and awarded them Sommelier’s Choice certificates.
Throughout the day, visitors enjoyed live music, diverse food offerings, a dedicated children’s area, and a variety of educational and entertainment activities in the historic center of Bolnisi.
The festival concluded with a special performance by the band Mgzavrebi.
The Bolnisi PDO Wine Festival was organized and presented by RMG, Bolnisi Wine Union. The event’s sponsors were the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and the National Wine Agency. Supporting partners included Bolnisi Municipality City Hall, Sakpatenti, and the Bolnisi Agrocenter.
RMG has been supporting the Bolnisi Wine program for local winemakers since 2018 and Bolnisi PDO Wine Festival is one of the successful projects within the program, which has already brought significant recognition and tangible benefits to local wine producers.
Since 2022, all major corporate responsibility projects implemented by RMG have been aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, Goal 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth guides the company’s support for local entrepreneurship and winemaking development, with the Bolnisi PDO Wine Festival serving as one of the program’s most impactful initiatives.