The Republic of Georgia The Birthplace of Wine
The Caucasus region, or The Republic of Georgia is believed the most likely birth place for modern winegrowing and commercial trade of wine itself dating back more than 5,000 years! Wine relics, vineyard cultivation remains and trade records all point to an advanced wine trade here and may even be older than mentioned. This area was part of the great Silk Road, the trade route between Asia and Europe. While winemaking from wild grapes and fruits seems to date back even farther to about 8,000 years ago, so these finds in the Caucasus Mountains seem to confirm it to be the true home of the ancient world’s first man trained vineyards.
Technology and science took much longer to develop here and so to make and preserve wine, the Georgians innovated the best they could and began fermenting and aging their wine in Qvervi, big amphora or terracotta that were buried in the ground, a tradition and practice that continues today. This was the original “Orange Wine” with the grapes, both red and white seeing full skin fermentations. Recent finds and historical evidence puts Georgia at the heart of the birth of the wine trade, it is believed now that Georgian wine dates back 8,000 years, making it the oldest wine region. Truth be told, borders were not drawn as they are now and whether it was present day Georgia or Armenia or what is now Turkey may never be truly certain, but it looks as it was here, in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains.
The Qvervi, a clay vessel used to ferment and store wine, is a Georgian invention that is now on the UNESCO World heritage list of cultural items and is an iconic symbol of ancient winemaking, not just in the past, but it is now finding a home in Western and modern winemaking from Europe to Oregon, and California along with it’s little brother the terracotta Amphora, though in Georgia the Amphora is used only to transport the finished wine, not make it, the Qvervi, which is buried in the earth, is Georgia’s tool of choice.
Also, for a long time we thought of Georgia as a red wine making country, though in fact, something that I learned at a brilliant seminar given by Lisa Granik MW, back in 2016 in San Francisco, it is white wine which is most made/grown in Georgia, with grapes like this Kisi, and Mtsvane, as well as the most widely planted varietal Rkatsiteli. I owe most of my own knowledge of Georgia to Lisa and I highly recommend reading her work and especially the latest edition of her book! “The Wines of Georgia” by Lisa Granik, available on Amazon and other fine book sellers.
In modern times there’s a lot to be excited about and I am looking forward to exploring Georgian wine in the future with rising star Teko “Teona” Omarashvili, of Pi Winery being one of Georgia’s new generation who is mixing tradition with innovative ideas to craft a more elegant and refined line of small production natural wines. She’s doing some Qvervi aged whites and reds, including an award winning Saperavi that I’m really excited to sample. Saperavi, the ancient varietal of Georgia, is an acidic, teinturier-type grape variety, with red flesh and red juice, and is the main red grape native to the country. With so much to look forward to, Georgians just need to get out from under the shadow of Soviet past and the present danger of Russia, who is still undermining this fiercely independent nation that wants nothing more than to live free and in peace.
Reviews of Pi Winery coming soon