Your intrepid liquor reporter was out at one of those fancy-schmancy wine tasting events recently, and there was an entire table featuring wines from Georgia.
No, gentle reader, I am not referring to the southern state wedged in between Tennessee and Florida, but the former vassal of the Soviet Union, wedged in between Russia and Armenia.
Georgia has been an independent republic since it threw off the shackles of communism in 1991, and is slowly moving out of Russia’s shadow to form closer ties with the European Union.
Of particular note is the ancient wine industry in Georgia, with a history dating back more than 8000 years, with the valleys in the Caucasus Mountains home to the world’s first cultivated grapevines, and viticulture dating back to the Neolithic Era.
The wine growing regions are not large, with the entire country of Georgia being slightly smaller than the Canadian province of New Brunswick, and the population being pretty close to that of Alberta.
Despite the small size, Georgia is understandably proud of its status as the “Cradle of Wine”, and consistently punches above its weight in the world wine markets, in some part due to its long history.
As far back as 4000BCE, it was discovered that wild grape juice would turn into wine if left buried in a shallow pit over the winter. From there, ancient winemakers quickly progressed to fashioning crude clay vessels lined with beeswax that would be filled with grape juice and buried underground for years, sometimes even decades, while the wine matured.
In a nod to history, many bottles of Georgian wines are sold in ceramic bottles instead of glass, to pay homage to the long history of winemaking in their small country.
The grapes used in Georgia are all native varietals, with nary a Bordeaux grape to be found. I will spare you the unpronounceable names of the assorted grapes, but be assured there are dozens of different varietals.
Most of the wine produced in Georgia is consumed domestically, with families growing grapes for their own personal consumption being the norm. Exports are mainly to neighbouring countries like Ukraine and Kazakhstan, with much smaller amounts to European and North American markets.
Still, we do get a dozen or so Georgian wines available at well-stocked booze merchants right here in Alberta, and your humble narrator made a point of seeking a few out after working my way through the tasting samples.
The Tbilisi Dry Red is named for Georgia’s capital city, and is known for aromas of pomegranate and spice. Plenty of tannic structure makes it a good pairing with a hearty beef dish.
Georgia is known for its semi-sweet wines, so I made sure to seek out the Marani Alazani Valley Red, a light-bodied wine that sees little or no oak aging. Fresh and fruity with notes of blackcurrant and cherry, fermentation is stopped early by chilling the wine, which leaves residual sugar suspended in the wine when bottled.
Semi-sweet wines are a bit more challenging to pair with food, but I made it work with thin vanilla wafers and a creamy Brie cheese.
Not wanting to ignore the whites, I picked up a bottle of the Qvevris Iveriuli, made by the dominant wine producer in the country, and named for the distinctive egg-shaped clay vessel that is buried in the ground for fermentation and aging of the wine.
These terra cotta clay vessels are unique to Georgia, and the craftsmen who create the qvevri vessels are revered as the keepers of an honoured tradition.
Historians are still debating if the ancient Greeks and Romans were inspired to create their clay amphorae vessels for transporting wine by observing Georgian winemakers back when Georgia was part of the Roman empire.
While drinking deeply of these wines, I felt the weight of history in each sip, as each grape came from a vineyard that had seen the rise and fall of empires including Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Turks, Persians, and Russians.
Throughout the long and trying history of Georgia, wine has remained the constant for all. The same wine flows freely in the cups of peasant and noble alike, of Pagan and Christian, of dishwasher and CEO.
Take your own sip of history by looking for a bottle of Georgian wine at your friendly neighbourhood booze merchant!
