As part of the Guest Wine Region exhibitions, each year the Fondation pour la Culture et les Civilisations du Vin will offer a winegrowing region the chance to present a cultural exhibition in La Cité du Vin’s exhibition areas for a duration of six weeks. The aim of these exhibitions is to introduce a wine region to the public from a cultural and civilisation angle via an original and aesthetic presentation. The first Guest Wine Region exhibition, in July/August 2017, will showcase Georgia, one of the cradles of world viticulture. Vines have been grown there for 8,000 years. Some of the oldest agricultural and viticultural traditions, such as vinification in qvevris (large earthenware vessels) – a method now included on UNESCO’s world heritage list – are still practised.
Bordeaux is a world center of wine-making. Presenting Georgia at the exhibition, as a cradle of wine, will promote our country in Europe and throughout the world. It is important that Georgia be presented at the exhibition not only in terms of wine-making, but also in terms of culture, ethnography and history. That is why organizers include representatives of the ministries of Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Education and Science, Culture and Monument Protection, and Economy and Sustainable Development - said Otar Danelia (Minister of Agriculture).
Building the large-scale complex was initiated by the Bordeaux City Mayor, Alain Juppe. The Center, which is 14 thousand square meters, will feature modern architecture and technology and will present the latest achievements in the field. An interdisciplinary center evoking history, geography, the life sciences, ethnography, literature, philosophy and the arts, the museum aims to promote a better understanding of both present and future challenges facing the wine industry. It will also showcase wine civilizations throughout the world, revealing the links between wine and the imaginary, and will share the refinement and art de vivre that epitomize wine culture.
France’s city of Bordeaux declared 2017 as the year of Georgia.
