Sept. 16, 2011
After a good night's sleep we ate a tasty breakfast from the hotel restaurant. It was time for a bit of work because Darrell pulled out the tekmali sauces, the jonjoli, and a few of the other Georgian products he bought at the Bio Valley market yesterday. We all loved the jonjoli and enjoyed the sauces too. They are likely to be found at Corti Brothers in the near future.
We packed our bags and left our hotel a 8 am. It had rained over night, so the streets were wet and there was still a mist in the air with over cast skies, but certainly not cold. Our Trusty driver David and our amazing guide Niko drove us to the Kakheti region where we would spend the next few days taking in the scheduled First Qvevri Wine Symposium events. The 2 hour drive was mostly through the very beautiful Tsiv-Gombori mountain range. The road's elevation got up to 3500 feet with some peaks topping out around 5500'. We got our first look at all of the abundant foliage. We were amazed at all of the wild apples, plums, pomegranates, and rose hips that were everywhere on the drive. We saw a number of ancient ruins along the way which were mostly old castles and watch towers. There were a number of shepherds tending their sheep along the way and we even saw a small flock of turkeys being herded across the road by their owner.
Gerogian turkey crossing
A Georgioan sheep herd
The beautiful scenery and varied sights made the two hour drive pass quickly. Our first stop in the Kakheti region was the Ikalto monastery in the village of Ikalto just west of the town of Telavi in eastern Georgia. An academy was founded at the monastery by Arsen Ilaltoeli (Ikaltoeli meaning from Ikalto) in the early 12th century which trained its students in theology, rhetoric, astronomy, philosophy, geography, geometry chanting but also more practical skills such as pottery making, metal work, viticulture and wine making and pharmacology. We met up the group of Symposium guests to tour the monastery and grounds. We arrived before the group, so we got a chance to take a look at a roadside Georgian curio stand outside the grounds. Once inside the grounds we got a first hand look of this 6th century monestary's restored buildings, excavations in restoration, ruins, and also our first look at a large collection of qvevri, both above and below ground.
The morning passed with our experiencing many wonderful sights and learning more of Georgian wine making and culture. Now it was time for lunch. The group drove to the near by White Restauran Nikala where we all sat to eat another traditional meal with fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, eggplant, traditional bread, smoked fish, fresh fruit, cheese, dumplings, honey comb, and cornelian cherry juice.
With our hunger and thirst pleasantly satisfied, it was off to the Alaverdi Monastery where the programs of the First International Qvevri Wine Symposium were held. We arrived to the monastery with the tower bells ringing out.
After gazing in amazement at the beautiful backdrop of the Caucasus Mountains , the outer grounds and monastery exteriors, we entered through the main gates and started to explore this 6th century monastery.
Walking around the grounds and buildings of this 6th century monastery was quite an experience, but once inside the church the ancientness of the interior, the incredible acoustics, and thought of how man was able to create something this grand that long ago left us in complete awe. John Wurdeman and Bishop David of Alaverdi monastery gave us a speech about the monastery's history inside the church and then we went to see the winery ruins outside. After hearing aboout the excavation of the winery ruins and the restoration, we moved to the outside of the restored winery under a beautiful grape trellis where there were a number of ancient qvevri lined up for us to see. A tour of the restored qvevri winery followed. Inside we saw that along with the qvevri winery the monastery maintained a modern winery as well. Darrell told us that a friend of his, Donato Lanati of Badagoni Wine Company, was largely responsible for the creation of the modern winery here. A tasting of the monastery wines was set up for us after viewing the winery interior.
The majority of the First Qveri Wine Symposium programs were held in the Alaverdi monastery rectory. We left Darrell to attend the afternoon Symposium programs. Niko, Esther, Jimmy, our driver David and I took a drive through the village of Avaverdi and the surrounding area to capture footage for the promotional video. We made it as far as the base of the Caucasus range. We were very enamored by the openness and kindness that was shown to us by all of the Georgians we met along the way. When driving onto a beekeeper's property unannounced with all of our camera equipment slung from our shoulders, we were greeted like family even though we were the utmost of strangers. Here are some scenes from our excursion.
We returned to the Alavardi monastery to reclaim Darrell after the Symposium programs were done for the day. Niko and David took us to visit a family of Qvevri makers who have been making Qvevri for generations. They timed the 12 day Qvevri kiln firing process so that we could see the fired kiln today and return tomorrow morning to watch them open the kiln. From the first kneading of the clay to the cooling of the hand made Qvevri it can take up to 6 months to make the largest Qvevri.
We were amazed at the patient and highly skilled process of Qvevri making. We could hardly wait until the morning to return to see the opening of the kiln. As we loaded up the van to head for dinner at the Schuchmann winery, we were greated by the village's daily running of the cows. They go out to graze in the morning and return home every evening.
Once the cows finally cleared, it was on the road again. The Schuchmann winery, hotel, and restaurant is located in the town of Kisiskhevi just east of Telavi. The drive took a little over 30 minutes. We met most of the group there and started with a tasting of Schuchmann wines. A tour of the winery followed, and then it was time to sit down for dinner. The smoked fish was delicious, and we had our first Georgian BBQ'd meat of the trip. After a filling meal it was time to make a late check in to our new hotel at the Tsinandali Palace Estate, winery, and museum grounds.
Dinner at Schuchmann was festive and filling. It was a long day and late by the time we got to our hotel rooms at Tsinandali Palace. Even though it was dark when we arrived at Tsinandali Palace we could tell that this place was special. We looked forward to seeing it in the daylight. Now it was off to bed.