Elguja Goderdzishvili, a 27 year-old winemaker from Georgia’s Gurjaani region, participated in a March, 2016 talk show organized by Information Center Kakheti (ICK), a USAID-supported regional media outlet. In response, people in Georgia and abroad became interested in purchasing his organic wines.

“We are negotiating a deal to export our wine to Great Britain,” Elguja notes. “A man with roots in Kakheti is interested in buying and selling wine produced in Georgia’s traditional clay pots. We have already printed labels with the name “Goderdzishvili Family Winery,” as well as the name of the exporter. Media attention is very important for small wineries such as ours. It enables us to compete with the larger, industrial wineries.”

ICK is one of 15 regional media outlets supported by USAID’s Media for Transparent and Accountable Governance (M-TAG) initiative, which is implemented by the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX). Through M-TAG, USAID supports Georgia’s media sector by building the capacity of journalists to demonstrate accurate and ethical reporting on public interest issues, and by supporting regional media outlets to improve financial viability and transparency. The talk show was produced through the Media for Georgia’s European Agenda (M-GEA) project funded by British Embassy Tbilisi and implemented by IREX.

You can view the ICK talk show on wine export here: http://ick.ge/videogallery/26162-i.html