Wine, Society, and Geopolitics
This event will be live webcast from this page.
Please join us for a unique, multi-panel event exploring the history, geopolitics, and political economy of wine production in the South Caucasus region. As a primary driver of Georgia’s burgeoning tourism industry (representing 18% of Georgia’s GDP in 2017) wine has been crucial to the internal development of Georgia’s trade, finance, and legal infrastructure. Panels will explore the following themes: how wine production has evolved historically in Georgia and the Caucasus and transformed Georgia’s economy, offering lessons for the region as a whole; the geopolitical consequences of a new wave of trade liberalization and foreign investment for the Caucasus; and the dynamics of local and global economies of wine, their politics and prospects.
9:00 - 9:30 AM | Welcome
Mamuka Tsereteli, President, America-Georgia Business Council
Levan Davitashvili, Minister, Environmental Protection and Agriculture, The Republic of Georgia
David Bakradze, Ambassador of Georgia to the United States of America
9:30 - 11:30 AM | Wine, politics, and society in historical perspective
Patrick McGovern, University of Pennsylvania
Stephen Batiuk, University of Toronto
Rachel Berndtson, University of Maryland
Moderated by Mark J. Plotkin, Amazon Conservation Team-USA
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM | Lunch
Lunch will be served on the Concourse Level
12:30 - 2:00 PM | The Geopolitics of Wine Today: Trade, Tourism, and International Relations
Lisa Granik, Master of Wine
Darra Goldstein, Author, The Georgian Feast
Mamuka Tsereteli, America-Georgia Business Council
Moderated by Jeffrey Mankoff, CSIS
2:00 PM - 2:30 PM | Coffee Break
2:30 - 4:00 PM | foreign investment, local economies: Case Study of Georgian Wines in the DC Market
J. Sebastian Zutan, Founding Sommelier, Red Hen
Brent Kroll, Founder/Sommelier, Maxvell Park Wine Bar
Carlie Steiner, Sommelier, Himitsu
Jonathan Nelms, Founder, Supra DC
Noel Brockett, Director, www.georgiawinehouse.com
Moderated by Dave McIntyre, The Washington Post
4:00 - 5:30 PM | Reception
Please join us for hors-d'oevres and beverages on the 2nd floor.This event is made possible by the generous support of the America Georgia Business Council.
