Georgia has produced the earliest evidence of wine selection and hence the emergence of the cultivated variety: Vitis vinifera sativa. Carbon-dating puts this change to domestication at about 5,000 BC."
"The Transcaucasian region, home today to the Georgians, is one of Vitis vinifera sativa land and is believed to have been the place where grapes were first harvested to be made into wine some 7000 years ago.''...
In the 17th Century, the French traveler Monsieur Sharden observed that Georgia produced a greater quantity of high quality wine than any other country. The production of sparkling wine and brandy emerged in 19th Century. By the 1870s, Georgia was producing 7.6 million decalitres of wine per annum, according to existing records. By 1913, this volume exceeded 9 million decalitres....