Abstract:

This paper closely examines the attempts of Georgian wine producers to comply with EU export standards and how they perceive them.  Moreover, this article presents how Georgian winemakers deliberate about the Georgian wine sector and its relation to the Soviet past, the Russian Federation, and mainly the EU market. 

What role does the Europeanisation process play in shaping their resilience in the form of adaptation strategies or informal practices? Mostly, the study analyses whether the Europeanisation process and its perception may activate resilience in the winemakers in the form of adaptation, a possible transformation, or resistance, and so in the embracement of informality. Qualitative interviews with primarily small and medium-sized Georgian winemakers, along with Q methodology, form the foundation of this research. The theoretical framework is comprised of the interrelation of Europeanisation mechanisms, resilience, and informality literature.

The effectiveness of  EU conditionality and the positive perception of EU requirements leaves no possibility of avoiding the EU wine export standards, and so to practice informality. In addition, a “self-conditionality” imposed by winemakers has led them to comply with EU standards and produce a higher-quality wine for a market they perceive as ideal —a market close to their idea of a “good life." Furthermore, Europeanisation co-occurs with identifying the Russian market as “Other," a market linked to informality, representing the past and not the destination to which winemakers aspire for their wines.