Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaijan

[kermatu]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

Wow - everything looks amazing. Great TR RooFlyer. Great pics as well. The shot of the escalator in the metro gave me vertigo.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

We hit the road west, heading for Kutaisi. First stop was the Jvari church, (only about 30 mins from Tbilisi) built on the site where King Mirian first erected a cross after being converted by St Nino to Christianity in the 4th Century. This church originated in the late 5th century, but like most churches in Georgia, as been destroyed and re-built a number of times.




The church was closed, but a number of carvings on the outside made the trip worthwhile in itself. On the right the builder has shown himself in supplication to the King.




From the church, thereis a great view of the next stop, the ancient Georgian capital of Mtskheta. On te right, is the police station. The past President sacked almost the entire (corrupt) police force and replaced them with a newly trained force which today is greatly admired by Georgians as being 'clean'. The President also started building new police stations - largely of glass, to demonstrate 'transparency' A nice touch, and indeed, virtually all the police stations you see are largely glass!





At Mtskheta we see the Svetitskoveli Cathedral, the Georgian 'holy of holies'. Built in the 11th Century, during the 'Golden Age' ,on a site of churches and holy relics dating from the 4th Century. It has by tradition Christ's crucifixion robe, turned to stone, beneath it. Tombs of Georgian Kings Erekle II (he who ceded the country to Russia's 'protection') and Vakhtang Gorgasali (5th Century) lie within the church.

The RH pic shows, not clearly, that the church was built asymmetrically, to show that nothing except God is perfect.



Again, some nice carvings on the outside. On te bottom LH, the 'tree of life' with of course grapes prominent.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

Inside the Svetitskoveli Cathedral.

LH: Symbolic replica of the Chapel of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, built between the end of the 13th and the beginning the 14th centuries. It was erected here to mark Svetitskhoveli as the second most sacred place in the world (after the church at Jerusalem), thanks to Christ’s robe. RH - the pillar beneath which Christ's crucifixion robe, turned to stone, is supposed to lie.





General view of interior; the tomb of King Vakhtang Gorgasali.




Some of the frescos; they are not from early times (all being destroyed one way or another, but 19th century.



Side of the cathedral with St Nino's cross on the remnants of the original structure, and Jvari Church up on the hill.




Then westwards again. For the first hour or so out of Tbilisi it is a good, 4 lane freeway (ie 2 each way), paved mostly in concrete. Signs are always in Georgian and English, everywhere I have seen so far, so you can navigate easily. The pic to the right is of South Ossetia - the Russian occupied 'breakaway' territory, over which a brief war was fought between Georgia and Russia in 1993. Georgia lost badly - Russia bombed several Georgian cities and ousted the Georgians from Sth Ossetia in a number of days. The territory is only a few hundred metres from the highway, but I didn't see any military. I am told that if we took our car down there, we would probably be OK as a tourist, but Georgians by themselves would not be welcome and would be obliged to leave, pronto.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

A bit more on the food side. Georgian portions are LARGE. It seems I always ask for a 'very small portion' but only ever eat no more than half of what is brought, sometimes 1/3 or 1/4.

Lunch is at a restaurant with the guide and driver. Now lunch is my minimal meal, but for these guys is obviously one of their main ones (the guide - a young lady in her 20s, doing a Masters in English Lit at Uni in Tbilisi ) doesn't eat breakfast, so she tucks in at lunch


A popular dish is khachapuri, or cheese pie. I've observed it in several forms, but it seems to essentially be a pizza type base with cheese variously on top and infused within, and baked. My guide confesses to loving cheese pie, so we see it at most lunches. Its tasty enough, usually quite moist, but I can't but feel it would go better with some nice herbs baked in with it - maybe some coriander and/or basil. The RH below is chakapuli again - pork with onion, potato and tarragon, in a more traditional form than noted above. Very tasty; not much juice, so not really a stew - more a stir fry.




LH below is the fixed dinner spread at the guesthouse (actually a small hotel) we stayed at at Kutaisi. left is eggplant and walnuts; right is the Georgian salad of tomatoes and cucumbers. Cheese pie is pretty obvious (I'm having a slice this time). In the middle is ojakhuri - a meat goulash. Some chicken on the left and other salad type dishes on the periphery.

RH is another lunch - more cheese pie and kabati on the right - essentially doner kebabs. My sole participation in this spread (honest!!) is badrijani, on the bottom left of the pic, which is eggplant with walnut paste. Becoming one of my Georgian favourites.




next was a bizarre dinner we had together at one of the towns we stopped at. first choice for dinner got cancelled, so we somehow substituted to this place. Enter a large, formal dining room (bottom pic), but also filled with a bunch of junk. Table for 20 set for 3 - just us. On the other side of the room, not photographed was mama - who sat in her chair the entire time, watching over all. Also there between serving were 2 young guys, watching something on their phones - it sounded like some sport. Bizarre!!

There was a wine tasting - it was explained in Russian, to add to the bizarre-ness; it included chaca, sort of Georgian Vodka. None of it was my cup of tea. We had more cheese pie, some grilled trout, which were great; usual egg-plant and walnut based salads, Georgian salad, and another variety of ojakhuri. Oh, and fries.

Personally I ate as fast as manners permitted and we left.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

Onto Gori, about 90 mins west of Tbilisi. Gori, as every Georgian knows, is the home town of Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Soviet Union from the mid 20s until his death in 1953.

At Gori is the Stalin Museum, which didn't really appeal to me at first, but I am glad I went. The staff have apparently been 'fans' of Stalin, but these days the tour is more 'balanced' shall we say. Stalin was a monster responsible for millions of deaths and this fact was not skated over. But his life is treated quite reverently and told in great detail.

The museum building and one of the many statues of uncle Joe. The museum was built by Lavrentiy Beria, also a Georgian and Stalin's head of secret police during and after WW2.




Most of the exhibits are via photographs and reproductions of letters, maps, documents etc. Bottom left, a re-assembling of his office; bottom right, some of his personal things like pipes, glasses etc.




Interesting fact: Stalin was about the same height as Napoléon Bonaparte (ie short). He also had a deformity in his left arm, making it several inches shorter than the right. Hence you usually see him with at least his left arm behind his back - you can see the difference in the RH pic.




The cottage where Stalin grew up has been preserved, in situ - the family rented the one room on the left of the LH pic - shown on the right.



Stalin dislike flying; he took over the former czar's train carriage and this took him almost everywhere. As you would expect, it was quite well appointed - personal bathroom, top right; meeting room and Stalin's own armchair in the far corner, bottom right (we all had a sit), and an early air-conditioner in the saloon.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

Before we hit Kutaisi for our overnight stop, we visited Uplistsikhe, 10km to the east. It is a 'cave city' and reached its height between 6th Century BC and 1st AD, being a centre for the pagan tribes in the west of the country. After the Arabs occupied Tbilisi in 645, it became the base of the Christian kings of the west (Karti) and a pivotal stop on the Silk Road. It declined in the 1100s when David the Builder developed other parts and was destroyed by the Mongols in 1240. Its certainly no Petra, but interesting in its own right.

One of the main caves, with ceiling carved to look like plaster mouldings.




Another substantial cave ('The Hall of Queen Tamar') with roof this time carved to look like beams.




An 11th century church.



An adjacent abandoned village; a tunnel runs from within the city down to the river, obviously allowing emergency escape.




Before we reached this far, the road went from dual lane freeway to single lane each way and our progress slowed behind many transport trucks (carrying goods not only within Georgia, but from Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkey - there is no rail transiting the Caucasus). We transited a range of hills, with several road tunnels developed, the longest almost 2km long. The hills are well vegetated and quite scenic.



Unfortunately on this road one of the worst features of Georgia emerged - the driving. Its shocking, and quite dangerous. 'Keeping in lane' is an unknown concept and over-taking towards on-coming traffic happens all the time. In that case, both other cars move over, creating a third lane in the middle. Our own driver was careful, thankfully, but even so we hade a number of close scrapes. And he wasn't immune from world-class tailgating and driving such that the white line was central beneath us. Driving defensively wouldn't always help, when some-one overtakes you, and some-one is ALSO overtaking a car coming the opposite way!

No, driving here is not fun.

They are extending the freeway both out of Tbilisi and out of Kutaisi, and it can't come fast enough.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

Georgian wine primer

Georgia claims to be the cradle or birthplace of wine, with the native wine grape vines being harvested to make wine since at least 6,000 years BC.

There is one fundamental way ti make wine the traditional way - in a Qvevri. Today, they come in 3,000 to 6,000 litre varieties, but in the old days were a few to maybe a few hundred litres. Here are some old style and modern qvevris.




The grapes are harvested in September/October, and crushed as they might be in Europe - in vats, with feet. On the left is an old wooden vat preserved in a winery. On the right, a stone vat with an outlet at the bottom and the tops of the qvevris shown in both pics. Ladling equipment shown on the left as well.




The juice, plus skins and stalks are then put into the qvevris, which are buried in the ground, to maintain an average temp of about 14 degrees. There the wine stays for a couple of months for red and maybe 9 months for white. For the best quality, the top half of the fermented juice is taken out and placed in another qvevri, without skins etc or some more time. In either case, the fermented juice (wine) is ladled out and put into bottles and corked (always corked). They typically have it in the bottle for only a year or 2 before selling. Shelf life is probably 10 years max.

On the pic below, LH shows the tops of more qvevris. They are sealed with only a flat stone (like slate) and sand.

In Georgia they also do 'European style - in stainless steel vats, as on the right.



Georgian traditional wine is always 'dry' 'Semi sweet' comes only from the European styling. Georgian style white wines are actually amber in colour, from contact with the skins in the qvevri - I showed this up thread.

There are 525 indigenous wine grape varieties in Georgia, but only about 20 are usually made into wine. Its complicated by the fact that a wine grape, such as the popular red Saperavi, has sub groups based on the town or area - so you might get Barisakho savarevi for instance, with Barisakho prominent on the label, not saperavi. Saparevi can be made European style as well, of course.

Main white wine grapes are Chinuri, Rkatsiteli, Goruli, Mtsvane and Khikhvi.

Main reds are Aleksandrouli, Dzvelshavi, Mujuretuli, Ojaleshi and Saperavi.

And if I mis-spelled any of those, you'd never know!

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

Overnight in Kutaisi, Georgia's second biggest city, on the Rioni River. The Rioni is where the legendary Jason rowed up with his Argonauts to take away the Golden Fleece and Kutaisi is one of two contenders for the location. Gold is actually captured on sheep's fleeces in mountains in Georgia.

It pelted rain all night but stopped in the morning, but we dodged rain most of the day.

First stop was Bagrati Cathedral in Kutaisi. Built in 1003 this time it wasn't destroyed by an invading mob, but in 1692 when explosives stored by the occupying Turks, went up. Pitures outside show a wrecked shell of 40 or so years ago - it looked like a building bombed in WW2. Its now been restored to a functioning church, much to the displeasure of UNESCO who put it on the 'in danger' list due to lack of authenticity. You can see the modern materials used in the RH pic. Its mildly interesting, but pales besides the other churches etc on the tour. BTW belfries or bell towers are always separate structures in Georgian Orthodox churches.




Then to Gelati monastery, founded in 1106 by King David the Builder as a centre for Christian learning and 'neoplastonist' study. (No, I don't know what that means either.) the Acadamy became a 'second Jerusalem'. King David, and his grand-daughter Queen Tamar, another great ruler, are buried here. Naturally, the Turks burnt it in 1510 but King Bargart II re-built it. Its currently under further restoration.

LH pic the Academy and one of the lesser of 3 churches on site (again, separate belfry on the right). RH pic the Cathedral of the Virgin, the main structure.




The frescoes inside date from both the 12th and 18th centuries. In the LH pic is King David the Builder (12th century fresco), seen, as always holding a church in his left hand. RH pic shows a mosaic from 1130s of the Virgin and child, flanked by Archangels Michael and Gabriel.




LH, a wider shot of the interior of the Cathedral. You can see how damaged everything is. RH pic the tomb of King David the Builder.




We next went to the Saptilina nature reserve to see dinosaur footprints (exhibit left, several large sheets of rock now under cover) and the 300m long Saptilina cave, which was not worth visiting. Never mind. There is a look-out at the top of the ridge with good views over Kutaisi, although it was a bit hazy. The building shown in the RH picture is

 

[love_the_life]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

Yes, the building is.....? Apart from a spectacular dome, what is it?

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

ooops, sorry! Genuine stuff-up, not a tease . It was late.

Its the new Parliament building. Another idea of the past President Saakashvili was to move Parliament out of the Stalinist building in Tbilisi to the second city, Kutaisi as a way to stimulate the economy there. So all the pollies and bureaucrats fly/drive back and forth .... They are getting sick of the idea, and Saakashvili has gone, so parliament is likely to move back to Tbilisi.






For a bit of geography, this is the route Kutaisi, top LH - Tbilisi, bottom RH (same was we went over).





A small church and belfry on the way.




A 'roadhouse' on the freeway, and a 'sign' of things to come!! Over the next 3 days I will be in the Kakheti region, in the east, where most of the wineries and vineyards are .


Back in Tbilisi, to more architecture, and also peak hour traffic jams! Not a pretty sight.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

Next day began what was to be the business end of the trip. On the way to Kakheti region we were to visit David Gareja, on the Armenian border and site of some ancient cave monasteries (bottom left of map) before reaching Sighnaghi (yellow marker to right), on the edge of the main wine growing region and fronting the Caucasus.



We proceeded out of town on George W Bush highway (towards the airport). Yep, 'W' came here during the term of President Saakashvili and they were quite chummy. Over the next 2 hours the roads gradually deteriorated, until the last 40km or so were variously hugely potholes and patched narrow bitumen, or just rough dirt. And the weather Gods finally caught up. About an hour out of Tbilisi we ran into thick fog, so thick that sometimes you couldn't see much beyond the side of the road.




There are a number of monasteries and cave complexes in the area but what I didn't realise until I arrived was that they are very spread out and only 2 are usually visited. I also didn't realise that one of those 2 is actually in Armenia. Except for a brief period a year or so ago when they stopped people crossing the border, the Armenians allow tourist to wander back and forth in this area.

The first site is Lavra, dating from the 6th Century and founded by Davit (or David) Gareja, one of 13 Syrian fathers who spread out to spread the gospel in Georgia in the 6th century. Some magnificent frescoes were created. Unfortunately, as usual, the Mongols and others attacked and destroyed in the 1200s; the site was revived by King George the Brilliant in the 1300s and attacked by Persians in 1615 when 6,000 monks were murdered and their artistic treasures destroyed. :evil: During the Soviet era the monasteries were in an army area and vandalised etc. The monasteries have again been restored (mostly) and are active again.

Entrance to Lavara and the lion shows the sorrow of the site.




Views inside Lavara; cave dwellings of monks and some of the monastery structures.




Unfortunately most of the monastery complex was closed for repairmen, and so was the path to the next monastery, Udabno, so we took the side route - a rough track, quite steep in parts - into the fog.

We encountered the Armenian border, marked by a low iron fence. I found myself with left leg strictly needing a visa, as it was in Armenia, whilst the right leg was OK in Georgia. The rest of me was in two minds.




At about this point I wondered if the monastery, still 45 mins walk away, would be closed, or even visible. My guide called and found out, yes, it was closed, so we decided to turn back. Good move.

We lumbered out of the area and I was hoping that the fog might clear, but it didn't; it lasted all day and was concealing Sighnaghi when we arrived, a bitter disappointment. Only hope was for a fine day the next morning.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

Well hello, Sighnaghi! A nice morning, with a view out my hotel room window, over the Alazani valley, full of vineyards, to the Caucasus mountains .





I went for a morning walk and came across the local memorial to those killed by the Soviets or in the wars (LH pic). Then there was the little fella on the right. I was walking through a park and herd this whimper behind me - poor guy, he could curl up asleep on a dinner plate but here he seemed abandoned. He followed me and I swear if I was back home I would have picked him up and adopted him. Fortunately he stopped at the edge of the park. One issue in Georgia are the dogs - they are numerous, loose and everywhere (and usually much bigger than this !). Not really threatening, but I saw plenty of fights break out.




Sighnaghi is a bit of a tourist trap and had a makeover a few years ago. Very pretty, set atop green hills, sort of like a Tuscan village. Lots of people come to get married here. It was actually late the previous afternoon that we visited the Pheasants Tears tasting room.



Its only a small place, and you sit down to do the tasting. We had a booking, but maybe a dozen or so groups turned up during my 1/2 hour stay and were turned away. I don't know why they don't just put a sign up. You can have meals here too.




Pheasants Tears is a pretty well marketed winery and produces the usual range of Georgian and some 'european' wines.



First off a Chinuri, a white (no skin contact); quite chardonnay-like and therefore not much to my taste. The winery notes say its lightly floral, but my own notes said 'doughy like an undercooked muffin'.

Then a Mtsvane, an amber wine with skin on (qvervri method) ; my notes say overtones of kerosene and worm farm. Didn't like it at all; left most of it in the glass.

Third, a 2011 Tavkevri, apparently rarely made into wine these days - a first for PT a year or so ago. Again, qvevri made but lighter than usual - a bit like a dry pinot noir and in fact they are serving it lightly chilled. I liked it.

Fourth, a 2013 Saveravi, qvevri made. Very dark red velvet colour - they call it a black wine. Lots of blackberry and cherry in this, very nice. A lot less earthy than most of the Saveravis I've had to this point.

 

[cgichard]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

I'm very much enjoying reliving my June Georgia trip through your photographs and descriptions. Pity you missed out on a meal at Pheasant's Tears: so much better to experience the wines with ample quantities of the food they would normally accompany.

So much to see in Georgia. I'm sorry you missed seeing inside Jvari church: it has a special character that many of the larger ones lack, mainly because it is so compact. I didn't get to Uplistsikhe, so was glad to have a glimpse of it via your photos. I skipped the Stalin Museum; seems to me to be encouraging a fan-cult of the monster. Both there and in the National Museum the custodians seemed very Soviet-era, reciting their set screed in barely comprehensible English and not allowing anyone to switch out and wander at will.

The climb up beside the cave dwellings at Davit Gareja is challenging; I wouldn't care to attempt it in fog such as you experienced it. There was never any suggestion that my group could visit Udabno but we did come across a Georgian soldier on duty at the crest of the ridge - very exposed and isolated - and while he was happy to chat a little with our guide, he (correctly) declined to have his photo taken.

Looking forward to the next instalment.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

My guide (for Georgia) said that the Stalin tours are now a lot more 'realistic' and even the townspeople visit the museum much less now. I didn't have a museum guide for the National Museum (could have had, declined ). What I didn't mention above, for the benefit of others, is just about every exhibit there has an English explanation, which is great. Some western European museums could take note!!

Disappointing book shop though.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

This day was spent in the Alazani Valley, between the Caucasus mountains on the far side and the hills hosting Sighnaghi and Telavi, our destination, on the other.




More views from my hotel, the Kabadoni. Its almost at the highest point in the town, and is modern; I'd recommend it - the breakfast spread was superb, and you have all those views again at brekkie




More scenes from the town.




Very close by is the Bobde convent. St Nino - she who converted Georgia to Christianity in the 4th century - is buried here; King Mirian had the church built over her grave. the LH pic is mainly the belfry, with the church behind. in the RH pic is a new Church, dedicated to St George, under construction. There are nice views of the valley too.




Then we drove across the Alazani valley; there are small villages along the way - the pipe work, you see all over the place, is natural gas reticulation. In the valley there was a distinctly more relaxed rural feel.

 

[darkice]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

great trip report, loving it.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

We were headed to the Khareba winery,or rather their cellars, right at the foot of the Caucuses range - a similar setting to Franschhoek at the foot of the Drakensburg Mountains.

The Khareba winery is one that I hadn't heard of, but there was a good reason we were visiting here. The grounds were nicely laid out, also like some of the South African wineries.




But the feature of this place are the twin 800m long tunnels, connected by 13 cross-drives in which the complex is hosted- a total of 7km :shock: :shock: . They were drilled by the then government for exhibitions for all the Khaketi region the 1964 World Wine Congress. Now privately owned and used for wine storage and tours. Remarkable.




The tasting area and a couple of display qvevris and some of the equipment used to ladle out the wines




Tasted only 3 wines (which was a bit cheap - you pay for the tastings), as below.

First up was a Rkatsiteli, an amber. I had been calling this one 'rat sak' as I didn't like it at all, but this one was served chilled (unusual) and actually had some nice fruit an a pleasant nose. It was also lighter than the usual Georgian whites - this shows that the wine was taken off the skins after about a month and put into another qvevri to mature. I still wouldn't buy it, but at least I finished the tasting glass. Think a dry pinot gris.

Next, and Aladasturi was a very nice light red, somewhat like a pinot noir - again, lots of nice fruit, maybe raspberry there. I'd actually buy this one.

Third, a Kindzmarauli, a European style. Distinctly sweeter than the 'Georgian style', you could even have this with dessert - they serve it chilled, also.




Another view of the surrounds, and the banners at the entrance. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

 

[craven morehead]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

I haven't picked up a book in weeks with all these bloody 'must follow' TR's on offer !! How lucky are we :mrgreen:

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

We headed up the valley along the base of the Caucuses, past innumerable vineyards to another castle - Gremi. It was the citadel defending a city, the capital of Kakheti from 1466 to 1672. But as usual, the neighbours came along and wrecked the joint - this time the Persians in 1616. So again, most of it is re-built, but still very old.





The frescoes are very good, but noter, as elsewhere, the faces have mostly been gouged out. The RH pic in the lower pair is the king's other throne.






There's a winery (ie original) naturally - the grape crushing vat (stone), with a drain at the bottom and tops of qvevris on the floor. RH pic another image of the castle.



Then it was back across the valley to Telavi a bustling regional centre. With a Big Grapevine . It has been a major centre on the Silk Road since forever, but also in the line of invasion by the Mongols and Persians. The Persians installed Erekle II as King of Kakheti (eastern Georgia) in the mid 1700s, and this kingdom was based in Telavi. Erekle united west and east Georgia and promptly entered into a protective treaty with Russia, (against the Persians) and this led to Georgia's effective subjugation to the Russian Tsars. Erekle is much more appreciated here in the east than in the rest of the country!

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Uncorking the Caucasus. EY F Apartment to Georgia (birthplace of wine) & Azerbaij

At Telavi we headed to the Shumi winery for another tasting. Their angle is a vineyard 'live museum' of hundreds of different types of grape varieties, from all round the world.




Also an indoor museum with artifacts through the ages. LH pic shows old grafting method; RH shows their story on wine 'technology' distribution.




Amazing when you can find 2,000 year old wine artifacts on the site of your winery! Thir inside tasting room (but we were outside).




Four wines served, as usual with cheese, toasted bread curls and ?flax seed oil.




A Rkatsiteli first up, qvevri dry white, again not my cup of tea, (or plonk).

For the reds, I asked to try different saperavis, to try to see the variations.

Then a 'bio-saveravi' - European style, so a sweeter red. OK, but I wouldn't buy a lot of it.

Third, a 2013 Mukazani. this is where the nomenclature gets me. its a Saperavi, but from the village of Mukazani, so they call it a different cultivar and the whole wine that name. But its a nice refreshing light style red (still qvevri); could quaff this round a barbeque no problem.

Last, a saperavi blend (mixed vineyards from Telavi area). Its OK - you'd probably call this the Jacobs Creek Cab Sav of Georgian reds.

By the way, something I haven't mentioned is that this valley gets incredibly hot in summer - easily 35 degrees, day after day and up to 40 degrees. But there is plenty of water, so every thing gets a drink. Vines here are harvested much earlier than elsewhere in the country, not surprisingly.

Lunch today was at a nearby restaurant. I went the badrijani nigvzit - raosted eggplant with walnut paste - this time inside, and pomegranate seeds atop. Then 'Georgian roasted vegetables' - egg plant, tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, bell peppers. however it was very oily and not very nice at all.