Georgia (the country, not the state) is an up and coming destination for wine lovers and those looking for something more than the typical European tourist experience.
My colleague at Commonwealth Wine School, Erika Frey, has been traveling to Georgia not only to teach but to gain knowledge about the Georgian wine culture. Erika Frey is the co-founder of the non-profit organization Saperica. Saperica’s mission is to promote Saperavi and other Georgian grape varieties along with Georgian gastronomy and culture in the Finger Lakes, NY and around the U.S., by organizing and facilitating educational seminars and exchange programs between the regions, for wine and culinary professionals and enthusiasts. Saperica is the organizer of the annual Saperavi Festival which takes place at Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery in Hammondsport, NY.
Here are Erika’s top 3 reasons why Georgia is an important and special wine region:
1. History – The oldest grape wine found to date is from Georgia. A multi-disciplinary team of scientists discovered wine residue on a clay vessel dating back to approximately 6000 BCE. The vessel with the residue was found just southwest of Georgia’s capital city of Tbilisi. This discovery was published in 2017 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1714728114
2. Qvevri winemaking – The tradition of making wine in clay vessels (qvevri) buried in the ground is an ancient method that is still very much in use today in the modern Georgian wine industry. The use of qvevri adds another layer of diversity to Georgian wine styles especially when it comes to skin contact white wines which Georgians call “amber wines”. The traditional amber wines from the eastern region of Kakheti are rich, exotic and unlike any other wines I have tasted. In 2013, qvevri winemaking was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/ancient-georgian-traditional-qvevri-wine-making-method-00870
3. Culture of Vine, Grapes and Wine – More than any other culture that I have experienced, the Georgian culture by far has the most reverence for the vine, grapes and wine. Grape vines grow everywhere – not just in vineyards but in courtyards and on balconies, and, naturally, most everyone makes wine for their own personal consumption. Georgian legends, religion, art, music and rituals have countless references to vines, grapes and wine. Many of these things culminate during the supra – a traditional celebratory feast which is marked by many elaborate toasts over several hours.
https://www.instagram.com/sapericausa/
I recently interviewed Kelsey Knoedler Perri from Road Scholar, about their upcoming travel to Georgia. Road Scholar is a university of the world inspiring adults to learn, discover and travel. For those of you looking to learn more about the wines and culture of Georgia, this is a great opportunity!
Tell me about why and how the Road Scholar got started in Boston?
Road Scholar was founded as Elderhostel in 1975. When the organization first began, the format was quite different—the concept was to take older adults to college campuses in the summer when they weren’t being used. They would stay in the dorms, attend lectures in the lecture halls from the professors, and eat in the dining halls—maybe go for a field trip in the surrounding area. It was sort of a “back to campus” experience. We were really an integral driving force in the lifelong learning movement. Through the years we’ve evolved into more of an educational travel organization, but we’re still a nonprofit with an educational mission. Everything we do is about learning, and that will never change. Participants still learn from renowned faculty, but they stay in hotels or conference centers. We now take older adults to nearly 100 countries and 50 states for experiential learning programs.
Who is your ideal client?
The average age of a Road Scholar is 72, but that’s really an average. We have participants in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. What attracts people to Road Scholar is our focus on education, so our participants are all lifelong learners. Nearly 70% of our participants are women, 30% of our participants travel solo, and 85% of our solo travelers are women, so we host lots of solo female travelers each year. And because of our educational mission and the high value of our programs, we attract lots of retired educators. We also offer programs for grandparents and grandkids as well as family programs for all three generations.
Why Georgia? What makes this a good wine destination?
Georgia is the birthplace of wine! That’s something that not everyone knows! Locals in the region have been producing wine for over 8,000 years, and they have their own unique processes for aging the wine that you can learn about on this program. When you visit Georgia on our program, it’s not just about tasting the wine—our participants will learn about wine. They’ll hear how it’s made (and has been made for 8,000 years) by walking through the vineyards where the grapes are grown and the cellars where the wine is aged in huge ceramic vessels (at Pheasant’s Tears Winery and Togonidze Winery). They’ll learn about the viticultural history and heritage of the region at monasteries and museums (Georgia at Ikalto Monastery and Chavchavadze House Museum). And they’ll stay in a boutique hotel with stunning views of the hilly wine region (Kabadoni boutique hotel). But participants should note that this program isn’t JUST focused on wine. They’ll spend time in historic Tbilisi and charming villages, learning about (and cooking) local delicacies, hearing from locals about life in Soviet Georgia, witnessing a live musical performance, and so much more. This is a 12-day program with three nights in the Kakheti wine region.
How did your organization coordinate these great excursions?
In all of our programs around the world, we work with locals on the ground who are experts in the regions where we bring travelers. Our Group Leaders who are with the groups throughout their learning adventures are also local, and they’re experts on the history, heritage, culture, natural history of the region, and more. Our experts introduce Road Scholars to the iconic highlights of Georgia, but they also have local knowledge of the hidden gems that independent travelers wouldn’t know about. And our local connections give us insider access to exclusive experiences, like stepping inside the home of a local family to learn how to make Khinkali—Georgian dumplings—and sharing a meal together. And, as we said— everything we do is about learning. So we work with our partners on the ground to make sure that educational experience is consistent across all of our programs.
Republic of Georgia: Tbilisi, Winelands & Highlands
During this 12-night learning adventure in the Republic of Georgia, spend three nights in the Kakheti Region— Georgia’s wine country— visiting vineyards and villages to learn about agriculture, sustainability, winemaking, bread baking, and community.
- Visit Tibaani Vineyards, owned by the Pheasant’s Tears Winery, one of the country’s rising stars in the natural wine industry. Walk through the vineyard and cellars with a local winegrower to learn about Georgia’s natural methods of winemaking. Find out how the grapes are grown, macerated, and aged in huge ceramic vessels lined with beeswax, according to ancient Georgian traditions.
- Enjoy a wine tasting at Togonidze Winery, where beloved founder Gia Togonidze and her family have earned worldwide recognition both for their warm hospitality and for their natural wines crafted with methodologies passed down through over 8,000 years.
- Take a day trip to Ikalto and Shalauri villages to learn more about the history of winemaking in Georgia at Ikalto Monastery, where an academy was established in the 12th century by David IV of Georgia, which included a wine-making school. Ikalto is also the site of some of the oldest found qvevris (clay jugs used for winemaking) in Georgia. In 2013, the traditional Qvevri method of wine-making was honored by UNESCO when it was inducted into their prestigious Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
- Visit Chavchavadze House Museum, located in the historic estate of Georgian aristocrat, poet, and winemaker Alexander Chavchavadze. This estate was a center of the intellectual life during the 19th century. Here, Alexander and his father founded the first and foremost winery in the country, which still produces the dry white Tsinandali wine.
- Take part in a craft beer tasting at Lost Ridge Craft Brewery & Inn in the village of Qedeli, where they specialize in farmhouse ales like Saison and Tripel with a Georgian twist. Brewed on-site and aged in the beer cave, the brewery pairs classic Belgian (and other) styles with local Kakhetian fruits and spices in some of their recipes. You’ll also have the chance to walk around the Lost Ridge greenhouse and organic orchards, where a “food forest” is in the making, to hear from a local expert how fruits, nuts, and vegetables are grown sustainably on-site for their cuisine and beermaking.
- Visit the village of Zinobiani to learn about the Orthodox Udi refugees who settled here in the 1920, escaping the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Today, a group of young Udis descendants are dedicated to sharing their rich cultural and gastrnomoic heritage. You’ll sample Udi cuisine, which incorporates flavors from the Muslim culture, including “fakhlinhooft”– a savory combination of beans and rice flavored with basil served alongside matsoni, an authentic Georgian sour cream.
- Visit a local family in the tiny village of Tsdo, where you’ll participate in a master class in the art of making Khinkali– savory Georgian dumplings. In Georgia’s mountainous areas, cooks often mix in special signature spices that set their regional khinkali apart. You’ll feast on your creations together with the family, while sipping fiery Georgian chacha– a strong traditional liquor made from grapes.
- Stay at the Kabadoni boutique hotel, set on the hilly slopes of the historic wine region village of Sighnaghi, with views of Alazani Valley and the Caucasus Mountains.
For more information visit http://www.roadscholar.org/
