A Visit to the Birthplace of Wine

by Giuseppe Fusco

This past September, I had the great fortune to visit Georgia. No...not Atlanta, though I'm sure it's nice this time of year. I'm talking about the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. Nestled between the beautiful Caucasus mountains and the Black Sea, and bordering Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, Georgia (or Sakartvelo in their language) is at the crossroads of culture throughout history. Not quite Asia, not quite Europe, and not quite the Middle East, this is a unique place with its own unique heritage.

Admittedly, I had very little knowledge of Georgia before visiting. I was surprised to learn how important wine is to this country. For example, the famous Kartlis Deda (Mother Georgia) statue watching over the capital of Tbilisi. In her right hand she wields a sword with which to greet her enemies. In her left, however, is a cup of wine with which to greet her friends. The message is clear.

Georgians are fiercely proud of their country. In particular their language, their land, and their religion. The Georgian language, like several of its neighbors, is very ancient. There is a unique alphabet that is not shared with any other country or people. During the Soviet era, Georgia had to fight for the retention of its language, which they maintain very proudly today.

The land is rather fertile and suitable for a variety of crops, including tea and wine among other produce. Kingdoms and empires such as the Romans, Persians, and Ottomans, have fought over this land and occupied it for thousands of years. Georgia regained its independence in 1991 with the fall of the Soviet Union. Yet still to this day, two regions are occupied by Russia.

The people are very religious, keeping a strong Orthodox Christian faith. As is seen in France and Italy, the connection between wine and religion is deep. Sacred songs are performed before ceremonially uncovering a wine vessel, and God is praised and thanked at the beginning of every official toast.

Ok, but why are we talking about Georgian wine? Recent archaeological efforts have uncovered the oldest known evidence of winemaking, from circa 6,000BC in present day Georgia. This is an immense point of national pride that has inspired the wine industry to improve its standards of quality and invest in new, modern techniques while still managing to retain its Georgian identity. Everywhere we went, we encountered the old generation proudly presenting on their wines via a translator. The translator was typically a son or daughter, fluent in English, having beefed up their résumés with stints abroad and preparing to take their family business to the next level. At the same time as winemakers from Europe are visiting Georgia to learn about their ancient techniques, young Georgians are refining their own skills at the top wineries in France, Austria, Italy, and Australia.

The traditional export market for Georgian wine is neighboring Russia. Because of its rich history of winemaking, the Soviets determined that Georgia would be the wine producing region for the USSR. Therefore, Russians over the years have developed a taste for Georgian wine. However, since the war with Ukraine, Georgia has been looking to diversify this export market. They are looking to Western markets, particularly the United States in order to not be reliant on Russian exports.

Wine in Georgia is made in a wide range of styles. European styles (Georgians call these "classical" wines) are made from local red and white varieties and usually aged in stainless steel, with some oak-aged versions as well. These wines were all good, but to me they weren't nearly as distinctive as the qvevri wines.

What is a qvevri? I'm glad you asked! A qvevri (sometimes spelled kvevri) is a large clay vessel, anywhere between roughly 500 liters up to about 2,500 liters or even larger in some cases. The Georgian tradition is to bury these permanently underground and to have fermentation and aging take place in this vessel, usually with all the skins and stems included.

The length of skin contact (3-6 months) is much longer than a typical European wine, with reds taking on a very deep opaque color, and whites taking on an amber-orange hue from the extended skin maceration. We tend to refer to these as "orange" wines but Georgians prefer to use the term "amber". The flavor of these wines is also incredibly unique, and these were by far the most distinctive and interesting wines I experienced on this trip. You must understand qvevri in order to understand Georgian wine.

Qvevri amber wines have flavors and aromas unlike any other. They can vary depending on the grape variety and the length of time spent on skins or time spent in the qvevri, but most of them had typical notes of jasmine or green tea, walnut/hazelnut character, and dried fruits like apricots or golden raisins. These flavors are typically echoed on the palate, with the addition of firm tannins and balanced acidity. The tannins are jarring at first - not something you expect from a wine that isn't red - but once your palate gets over the shock it's actually rather pleasant. Amber wines are incredibly versatile with food, and Georgian food pairs beautifully with amber wines. The reds are also more distinctive when aged in qvevri, taking on even more tannin and a depth of flavor and complexity. Lots of rich black fruit character, stony minerality, and some of that same nuttiness that is present in the amber wines. A qvevri red pairs very nicely with grilled or stewed meats and firm, pungent cheeses.

Grape varieties abound in Georgia, with more than 500 officially in existence and roughly 30-40 in commercial use. In practice, a vast majority of the reds are made from the Saperavi grape, with very few other grapes in common usage. Saperavi is unique because it has pink flesh instead of the usual clear flesh, making it easy to extract deep color and nearly impossible to produce a rosé from this variety. The main white grape is Rkatsiteli (say that three times fast!) and it produces relatively innocuous European style white. When fermented and aged in qvevri with skin-contact, however, rkatsiteli takes on all of those complex flavors I mentioned earlier. Other notable white grapes are Kisi, Mtsvane, Khikhvi, and Tsolikauri.

After two days in Tbilisi, including a walkaround tasting featuring 30 different Georgian wineries, we had two full days of traveling through the main wine region of Kakheti, including 11 winery visits. Altogether there were close to 200 wines tasted from over 40 producers, and a lot of purple teeth! Wineries in Kakheti visited include:

• Mosmieri Winery
• Corporation Georgian Wine
• Askaneli
• Twins Wine House
• Schuchmann Wines
• Teliani Valley
• Marani Winery
• Tbilvino
• Khareba Winery

All of these producers had something great to offer. Ranging from small production, boutique wineries run by family farmers, all the way to giant factories with state of the art equipment. And everybody was expanding, which shows that there is plenty of investment happening in this little-known wine region. Whatever the future holds for Georgia, this visit shows that they are ready to make a major impact in the global wine market.

A Visit to the Birthplace of Wine

by Giuseppe Fusco

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