Sept. 15, 2011
Today was our first day in Georgia. I slept about 6 hours and was up before the sun rose, so I thought I'd go back up to the observation deck on the roof of our hotel to catch the sunrise and capture some first light images of Tbilisi.
Our first breakfast in Georgia was had in the hotel restaurant and consisted of fresh fruits, vegetables, Georgian cheese and cold cuts, juice, yogurt, eggs, and Georgian breads.
After breakfast we gathered our gear and loaded up the van to begin filming parts of Tbilisi. Darrell gave commentary about the abundance of decorative grapes growing everywhere.
The Latin Cathedral of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan was directly across the street of our hotel.
The weather was beautiful and the bird life in Tbilisi was ever present.
Here are some pictures of what our hotel's street looked like.
We were headed a short distance to the old part of Tbilisi, but first made a stop at the Kopala Hotel where we went up to the roof for a look at the city from a different perch.
Niko told us a few things about Tbilisi and gave a us a few history lessons during our drive to old Tbilisi.
Here' a wide angle HD helmet cam video of our first drive through Tbilisi
Next stop old Tbilisi and the Turkish bath houses.
Since Corti Brothers is always on the lookout for new, unique, and special goods to sell, Niko took us to a specialty retailer called Bio Valley not far from the center of Tbilisi. They sell local Georgian specialties, most of which are organic and/or bio-dynamic. We found some very interesting things there. Tekmali, which are Georgian sauces made from fruit or vegetables, the most interesting one being made from a small wild yellow Georgian plum, traditional Georgian bread, and the most intriguing thing to us "Jonjoli" which, for the lack of a better term, is the Georgian caper. It is the clusters of unopened flower buds, some opened flowers, and stems of a tree indigenous to Georgia. They are salted and then pickled in a mild vinegar. We had them at most meals while in Georgia and found them delicious. They will soon be found at Corti Brothers, if we have our way!
After purchasing the items we were interested in and a few Georgian beers to quench our thurst, it was off to meet up with some of the 60 international invited guests to the Qvevri Symposium in the town of Mtskheta for our first lunch in Georgia.
Our table was over flowing with traditional Georgian specialties including fresh Georgian breads, cucumbers, tomatoes, pickled vegetables, Georgian dumplings, and a delicious Georgian red bean soup which was mildly spiced. We were told to break up the firm Georgian corn bread rusks and stir them into the soup. The result was truly satisfying and gave us the feeling of something uniquely Georgian.
After a very satisfying lunch, we headed to the Georgian national grapevine research station at Saguramo. The station currently maintains a vineyard of 400 of the 540 native Georgian grape varieties which are neatly planted in nicely kept rows. The vast majority of these varieties exist only in Georgia. We walked through the vineyard tasting many of the grapes. The diversity was amazing. There is no other vineyard like this in the world. The work done buy all of those involved with this project is unparalleled. Their goal is to have all 540 varieties represented.
The whirlwind day kept on going at a very concentrated pace. Our next stop was the qvevri winery and home of Iago Bitarishvili. When we arrived Iago gave us a tour of his facility. The room with his buried qvevri, very neatly finished in brick, had a wonderful surprise for us. Iago opened a qvevri for us. It was 2010 vintage of the Georgian variety called "Chinuri", which he felt was ready to be tasted. As Darrell stated "qvevri wine is made not by one standing up like traditional wine, but made by much bending and crouching." The wine was exceptional, so much so that Darrell asked Iago how much of the qvevri was for sale. Iago was very humbled and asked how much Darrell wanted to buy. Darrell said "All of it", so as soon as it is bottled and shipped Iago's 2010 qvevri made Chinuri will be available at Corti Brothers.
After the qvevri tasting, Iago and his family invited us to sit outside under a covered patio where they had prepared a table of food , which included home grown vegetables, freshly baked traditional bread, and BBQ. We tasted a Georgian cultivar of freshly picked cornelian cherries, and were offered to taste their Chacha distilled in the small still built into the patio fireplace. Chacha is a high proof Georgian spirit distilled from grape pomace. Iago and his family were very endearing to us because of the many examples of hard work, passion, strong family bonds, and generosity they showed.
We bid farewell to Iago and his family and headed back to our hotel in Tbilisi. We had put in quite a bit of mileage today. Here is a video of some of the driving sights we encountered today and one of a very unique traffic circle...a double decker!
We had a chance to unwind a little back at our hotel and then freshened up to departed for our 6:30 pm visit to the Georgian National Museum where the First International Qvevri Symposium was officially opened by David Lordkipanidze, director of the museum. John Bass, the U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, gave a welcome speech, as did the Georgian First Deputy Minister of Economy, Archil Kekelia. The idea of this symposium was to educate the 60 plus invited international educators, writers, enologists, scientists, and media personalities on Georgian grape varieties, history, culture, qvevri wine making, and how they are all so intertwined with the Georgian love and appreciation of wine.
Here's a segment of U.S. Ambassador John Bass during the Georgian TV news story.
After touring the Museum, sipping some wine, and mingling with the international guests, it was finally time to go back to the hotel. This day was long and very concentrated with sensory overload in the sight, sound, and taste departments. Sleep came very easy.