Georgia

From orange-coloured wines vinified in the ground to platters of oozing cheese filled bread, there’s a feast for the senses at the crossroads of Asia and Europe

- Carla Capalbo

Zaliko Bodzhadze is putting the finishing touches to what looks like a gigantic clay egg when I first visit his potter’s studio in Maqatubani, a 90-minute drive west from Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi. His creation towers over him, and he smooths the swollen belly of what’s essentially a huge coil pot with pride. The hollow vessels — known as qvevri — are the key to Georgia’s ancient winemaking tradition. With their pointed bottoms and open-necked tops, they’re made in many sizes, the largest holding up to 2,000 litres of wine. After firing, the qvevri are painted inside with hot beeswax before being buried in the ground. The grapes ferment into wine inside the clay, surrounded by the earth in what the Georgians call the ‘mother’s embrace’.

“Based on local archaeological findings, Georgian wine has been made in qvevri for at least 8,000 continuous vintages,” he explains. “It’s an unbroken tradition that’s been passed from father to son through the centuries, just as I’m passing it on to my boys. Today, only a handful of families still have the inherited know-how to keep the qvevri making going.”