Georgian Wine Is Caught Between Russia And The West
Key takeaways
- Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights.
- Patrick Honnef says this quietly, the way you say something you've been thinking about for a long time.
- The pressure on Georgian wine in 2025 is not new, but it is acute.
Spirits Georgian Wine Is Caught Between Russia And The West As Russia raises excise taxes and tightens its grip on Georgian wine exports, producers face an impossible choice — and America may be the only way out.By Michelle Williams,
Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Freelance Wine Writer Follow Author Jun 11, 2026, 07:00am EDTRussia buys 60% of Georgia's wine exports. With new excise taxes squeezing producers, the industry is running out of time to find another way.getty"If we lean too much to the west, we're in trouble. And if we lean too much to the north, we're in trouble."
Patrick Honnef says this quietly, the way you say something you've been thinking about for a long time. He is the winemaker at Château Mukhrani, a historic estate in Georgia's Kartli region, and he has spent 12 years navigating the peculiar geopolitics of Georgian wine. His employer is Swedish. His adopted country shares a border — and a traumatic history — with Russia. His wine needs American consumers who have barely heard of the place. Sitting across from him at a long lunch table on a picturesque sun-drenched day, tasting through a lineup of wines made from grape varieties most Americans can not pronounce, I understand the bind he is describing in a way that no export chart could convey.