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Published: October 7th 2014
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With Mikal and Magdelena at Tsinandali
This was the excellent little museum at the Chavchavadze Estate The story really starts when we sat next to a young Polish couple, Mikal and Magdelena on the marshrutka up the Georgian Military Highway to Kazbegi. They spoke very good English and Russian as well, which is a great advantage in the ex-Soviet states. We were both going to Kasbegi for two nights. On our return as we waited for the metro in Tbilisi they walked up to say hello having travelled in a separate car back from the mountains. Each of us was heading for the centre of the Kakheti wine country, the town of Telavi, and we agreed to share a taxi. This was a typical Georgian taxi, which are completely unregulated, in this case a Japanese import with steering on the wrong side and bald tyres.
During the drive the two couples agreed to share a taxi the next day to see the sights.
We were staying at different guest houses. We were at Eto's (eto.neka@yahoo.com) which offered spacious rooms, a nice shared bathroom, a use of the kitchen, the latter being a big positive for us. After settling in we went to find the bazaar to buy ingredients for dinner. This
was a cavernous shed full of stalls selling meat, fish, cheeses, nuts, vegetables and fruit. Almost all was being sold by producers and it was about as far as you can get from a British farmers market. Food inspectors in the UK would have closed it in a second. But then the food we bought - veg, fruit, cheese, pork and beef - was fine. Jane turned pears we purchased into a great pudding cake. The brawn/head cheese I had a taste of was excellent.
The next day we booked a driver to take us to all the local sights, mostly old restored churches, and a few wineries. He was organised through Eto and kept us entertained all day (Mamuka Jangulashvili E: Jangulashvili.1973@mail.ru T: +995 555156715). Sharing with Mikal and Magdelena cut this cost to 35 GEL (£12.5) for the day. It was the wineries we were really interested in.
We had started our education in Georgian wines in Tbilisi. Key points are:
~ Of the worlds 2000 grape varieties 525 are Georgian ( we saw a plot with 105 of them at the Alaverdi Cathedral)
~ The most common varieties are
Carp for sale at Telavi bazaar
Note the chap at the back cutting up a fish Saperavi (red) and Rkatsiteli (white)
~ The key export market was Russia until they went to war in 2006. Since then they have been pushing East European and Chinese markets
~ The tradition is like Greece that each family makes it own wine so there is only a limited home market for commercial wine. 80% is exported.
~ The traditional method for making wine in Georgia is in qvervi. These are clay pots buried in the ground which are 2m deep. The crushed grapes, skins and all, sometimes with fern fronds as a filter aid are put in the qvervi and left to ferment using the natural yeasts on the grapes. The process takes up to six months. This method produces very tannic wines.
~ They are now focusing on making more European style wines fermented in stainless steel. We found one 'oaked' red in the new world tradition.
~ There is a tradition of making semi-sweet red and white wines as well as drys.
We have done a number of tasting in different countries and while still fun I would regard a Georgian tasting as unsophisticated. The wines were drinkable without
being exception. The 'qvervi' wines are almost a different drink. They are quick distinct and quite harsh with all the tannins.
At the first winery we were shown around factory. They were commercially making qvervi wine and were crushing grapes in the traditional way in a wooden trough. They were happy to let us stir the fermenting wine in the qvervi, as you have to on a daily basis. Again UK food inspectors would have had a fit.
The second winery close to the Russian (Dagastan) border was burrowed into the hill. The 8km of tunnels had been dug for military purposes 50 years ago and had been quickly taken over for wine storage. They gave us a taste of a number of qvervi wines - it clearly takes time to acquire the taste.
The tour gave a chance to get to know little more about Mikal and Magdelena. They had met at the Warsaw School of Economics which also has a very strong emphasis on languages. This makes the graduates very employable and they were working for Hewlett Packard and Procter and Gamble, respectively. They clearly liked to travel and
only had one week in Georgia, as did we. We shared blogs as they had walked in the Pyrenees last year like us. They had walked the Camino de Santiago a much more adventurous challenge than what we had done around Lescun.
We greatly appreciated touring with them. First, although our driver-guide spoke some English he clearly preferred Russian and Mikal and Magdelena did an awful lot of translating for us during the day. They had also read up a lot about the South Caucasus region and added additional perspective.
At the end of the days tour we had booked a traditional meal at an old family farmhouse. They had laid out a table in the spacious cellar next to the new harvest fermenting in the family's qvervi. The son taught us how to stir the fermenting grape pulp. They served a whole variety of dishes including grilled aubergines, ratatouille, khinkali (large purse shaped meat ravioli/dumplings), pickled capers and salty cheeses. The home brewed wine was served from earthen ware decanters into clay bowls from which we drank.
We finished a great day by inviting Mikal and Magdelena back to our
Guesthouse for tea and Jane's pear cake. From there we wished each other good travels. Mikal and Magdelena were heading back to Tbilisi the next day to catch a 4am flight back home!
We planned a low key day in Telavi the next day. We had to organise the next stage of our journey to Azerbaijan and also needed to buy more ingredients for supper. When we wandered into the town square we found it was 'Georgian Wine Day'. This consisted of seven stalls where you could taste wine from different producers. The 'sales teams' were volunteer students who had been bussed in from Tbilisi. We had a super time talking to them and tasting the wine as well. Apparently if you want a degree in Georgia you have to pass a foreign language exam. Most young people these days pick English.
One young chap also explained the Georgian tradition of drinking at table. There is usually a respected older man who is the toast master. You can only drink when he makes a toast and otherwise have to ask his permission. It is dishonourable for him to get drunk so this self regulates
Qvervi
They are only used buried in the earth the party.
All the students had nice promotional T-shirts and after a few comments we were given two free. They will make ideal vests as we move into colder climes. We also were filmed at one point by a local camera crew so look out for us on your Sky Georgian channel!
Georgia and in particular the Western region of Kakheti clearly has a lot of potential for wine production. They still have some way to go in creating consistent good quality and their food hygiene standards will have to improve before they can penetrate Western European markets. I look forward to them getting there in the coming years. With their unique varieties and methods they have a lot to offer.
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Magdalena
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Wow! We are famous :)
Thanks for making us famous on the Internet :) you forgot to mention our driver (joking). glad we could share a piece of your 1 year journey!!! And good luck with the rest of it. i already added your blog to my favourites, so be careful, I will be watching you ;)