There are a couple of ways to savor Georgian wine: you can fly to Atlanta and head for the hills. The state’s wineries are really good. Then you can take a transatlantic trek to the other Georgia, the one on the Black Sea. These wines are really, really good.
If you’re in search of adventure with your viticulture, consider the latter. Silk Road Treasure Tours is running a series of seven forays into Georgia’s rich, redolent wine region.
Expert guides help you explore the Kakheti wine region, all the while drinking in not just wines from Pheasant’s Tears, but majestic views of the snow-capped Caucasus Mountains as well. They pair perfectly. This small, exquisite winery is sited in the 18th Century town of Singhnaghi. The winery was founded by John H. Wurderman, an American artist.
Get down to the nitty-gritty of Georgian winemaking with a visit to the cellars of local farmers in the nearby village of Velistsikhe and learn all about family wine production. Contrast that approach with the way Schuchmann Wines does it. It’s a substantial, modern winery owned by a German industrialist.
Next day it’s off to see just how folks have stored wine for some 8,000 years now, in clay jars called Qvevri. Then it’s on to the wine cellar of Alaverdi Cathedral. It’s run by monks who’ve been crafting wines there since the 6th Century.
By now you get the impression this is no sip ‘n run wine tour. It entails a substantial serving of history as well.
Later in the tour see the 6th Century Jvari Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site overlooking Mtskheta, the religious epicenter of the nation of Georgia. Finally, it’s the Black Sea Coast and the Gonio fortress, a place connected to the age-old myth of Jason and the Argonauts. You’ll never quite see the old 1963 stop-motion animation film of the same name quite the same way again.
Nor, after this epic journey, will you quite see wine-making the same.
(Image: wesleynitsckie)
