Wine exports held flat at $188.7 million — while the volume sent to Russia fell 5.5%

Exports of wine of fresh grapes came to $188.73 million from January to September 2026, against $189.878 million in the same months of 2025 — a fall of $1.147 million, or 0.6%. On a trade of that size, that is flat rather than falling. Russia alone accounted for $119.791 million, about 63.5% of the value, down just $0.380 million or 0.32% year on year. Everything else combined made up roughly 36.5%.

The volume shipped to Russia fell from 43,405.2 tonnes to 40,998.9 — a drop of 2,406.3 tonnes, or 5.54%. Value held while weight fell, which arithmetically means the average value per tonne rose by about the same 5.5%. So the same market is paying more for less. Whether that is better pricing, a shift towards bottled rather than bulk, or a change in product mix is not something the trade statistics can tell you, and the report does not claim to know.

Nearly two thirds of export value resting on one market is the sort of concentration that shows up in Kakheti long before it shows up in a national statistic. Wine revenue funds the cellars, tasting rooms and guesthouses that make the region worth a two-night trip, and a flat export year means capital spending decisions get postponed rather than cancelled. For an owner of a guesthouse or a plot near Telavi or Kvareli, the practical reading is that demand from wine tourism is likely to be steady rather than expanding next season — and that the diversification away from a single buyer country, visible here only as a 36.5% residual, is the number to watch in future releases.