Continuing my fascination with unfamiliar wine regions, here is another one. Though with such a long history of winemaking, I can’t really call it “new”!!
Along the eastern border of the Black Sea, beautiful countryside, deep valleys and flourishing vineyards define the Republic of Georgia. The nearby Caucasus mountains and the Black Sea both influence the climate, creating fantastic conditions for wine cultivation.
Republic of Georgia (photo: gobe67)
Republic of Georgia (photo: gobe67)
Over 75% of Georgians earn at least a portion of their income from wine, and each village specializes in a particular type of wine. Kakheti is one of the most popular villages. If you make a trip to Kakheti in October, during the wine festival, you can see a town overflowing with grapes. You may even be offered a drink from a ladle lifting wine from a kvevri, a clay jar buried underground where all of Kakheti wine ferments. This sounds like a party I would love to attend!
Georgian vineyard (photo: Morieli)
Formerly part of the Soviet Union, the Republic of Georgia is a relatively small country with just under 5 million people, but their history of winemaking is incredibly long. They recently discovered some ancient wine vessels there dating as far back as 5000 BC!! There are nearly 500 different grape varietals grown in Georgia, making a wide range of sweet, dry, fortified and sparkling wines. Some even say that this small country may have been the birthplace of wine, the first location where man (or woman) may have fermented grapes!
-Rocio
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