A hole in the ground, this is the mystery of the 8000-year-old Georgian wine-making.
Archaeologists excavating the villages in the nation of Georgia found pieces of clay pots containing residues of the world’s oldest wine. ‘World’s oldest wine found in 8,000-year-old jars in Georgia Scientists say 8,000-year-old pottery fragments have revealed the earliest evidence of grape wine-making.
A glass of Saperavi wine Traditionally, Georgian wines carry the name of the source region, district, or village, much like French regional wines such as Bordeaux or Burgundy.
Georgian winemaking method joins UNESCO heritage list Georgia’s traditional winemaking method of fermenting grapes in earthenware, egg-shaped vessels has been added to the world heritage list of the United Nations Educational, scientific and cultural organisation (UNESCO).
The UN body said this month that Georgia’s ancient qvevri winemaking method is part of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Yet the number of qvevri winemakers is growing: Today at least 30 artisanal winemakers use the ancient vessels exclusively, and larger wineries are adding qvevri series to their lineups. “To stand out from the crowd, it’s good to have the qvevri wine.
Irakli Cholobargia, from the Georgian National Wine Agency, says they are now increasingly focusing on western Europe and North America. “In volume,we are not the big country,” he says. “Our maximum capacity [for production] now is 300 million bottles a year, which is the size of one big Australian winery. “We cannot compete with France, Spain, Chile and South Africa [in size], but what we offer is our uniqueness, our grape varieties, and qvevri wine, our history. “Our strategy now is to be established in the Western and Asian markets, and to diversify the whole export market.” One Georgian winemaker who is increasing his exports is Gia Piradashvili, founder of Winiveria.
In the meantime, it seems that the essential art of Qvevri winemaking is likely to remain as it has for the past 8000 years.
Example bottle to start with: Marabda 1625 Akhasheni 2017 (Georgia).Traditionally, Georgian wines carry the name of the source region, district, or village, much like French regional wines such as Bordeaux or Burgundy. As with these French wines, Georgian wines are usually a blend of two or more grapes. Georgian wines are classified as sweet, semi-sweet, semi-dry, dry, fortified and sparkling. The semi-sweet varieties are the most popular. (en.wikipedia.org)
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Try henry’s Georgian wines online only shop that delivers to UK and Ireland.
Try a Georgian semi-sweet white: Alazani Valley
