Georgian wine traditions – what do you know about one of the oldest winery traditions? Today we’ll talk with the expert from Tsereteli Wine, Nikoloz Tsirgvava who explained us the main Georgian traditions, qvevri wine production, making of the Georgian wines and how the Georgian wine is being produced nowadays.
Our today’s guest is Nikoloz Tsirgvava, working in the wine making industry in Georgia, in Tsereteli Wine. More about the wines we talk during the podcast, you can read on the website of Tsereteli Wine: or you may look fo it in your local supermarket.
Episode shownotes:
What is Georgian rtveli?
1:55 – Rtveli is a collection of grapes in Georgian – the process the vineyards prepare for it for long time for the harvest of grapes. Rtveli in Georgia happens in September and in autumn depending on the region.
3:25 – How to assess the level of sugar in grapes?
The modern ways of assessing is based on the grapes sugar content that can be checked in labs and in Georgian wine traditions.
4:30 – How rtveli looked traditionally in Georgia?
The Georgian wine traditions are old. Rtveli is the harvest of grapes after which everyone was joining and celebrating the harvest of the year and the start of wine preparation. This is one of the biggest supras of the year when whole family and friends participate.
7:30 – What happenes after the rtveli?
When the truck of grapes is loaded it goes to the winery, to tanks, to qvevri and the modern or traditional Georgian wine production processes.
Types of Georgian wines and how to produce them?
8:15 – The production of white, red and qvevri Georgian wines varies a bit.
8:50 – What is qvevri?
Qvevri is one of the most important Georgian traditions in wine making process – qvervi is a type of clay pot where you store traditional wine in. This is traditional way to produce and store wine.
How Georgian chacha is produced?
10:00 – Chacha is produced as a part of wine production and it’s made of grapes’ skin which is also called chacha in Georgian.
11:20 – What is Georgian home-made wine?
Georgian traditions of wine making are very vivid in Georgia and many people have their own vineyards, qvevri in their cellars and own wine cellars at home so they can produce good quality Georgian wine. Very often the Georgian home made wine is of good quality.
13:03 – What are the most important fruits in Georgian traditions?
13:54 – How to run your own vineyard and take care of Georgian grapes?
You have to take care of vineyard all the year to make sure you will get great grapes and to follow Georgian traditions and follow the natural timeline if you want to get the good quality Georgian wine. There are also many people needed to run such a vineyard.
What are the types of Georgian wines and how to distinguish it?
16:50 – Besides following the rules of matching the food to red or white wine you may also check connecting it with the mood. For tourists in Georgia it is good idea to try traditional Georgian wine made in qvevri because this is an unique to the region taste.
18:43 – How the traditional wine production looks like in Georgia? How the red and white wine is produced in Georgia?
It is connected with the way how the Georgian wine is being produced. The sweet wine needs different conditions for fermentation than other types. Refrigerating it is also essential in the process.
21:00 – Why qvevri is so special in wine traditions of Georgia?
To produce the good quality wine you put the qvevri underground so you can control the fermentation processes, by keeping it in low and stable temperature.
23:10 – How to distinguish the Georgian wine names?
Kindzmarauli is a type of wine from Georgia and also the name of microzone where that type of grape can be grown. Types of Georgian grapes like sapreavi, rkatsiteli mean how strong the winemaking is connected with wine traditions in the Caucasus. Other type of wine is malhuzani and it is also connected with the microregion of Georgia.
26:11 – Where to find the wine from Georgia in your country?
There are Georgian wines in Poland, UK, United States, China, Ukraine and other markets. How does the Chinese market of wines look like and what type of wine they prefer in China?
29:00 – What are Georgian ways of celebration and what part Georgian wine takes during supras and celebrations?
Georgia as an oldest wine producing country
30:30 – How to start the journey with Georgian wine and find the best Georgian wine for you?
You may go to wine tastings and also you can find all the details of type of wine you can find on the labels on the bottle.
33:00 – How to learn more about the traditions of Georgia…