Baker David
Our journey was not completely problem-free. On the day we planned to depart from Tbilisi we found out that we needed a permission to drive a car with Georgian plates to Armenia. Absence of this permission caused us one day delay. We decided to have a trip around Tbilisi until they issued the permission. On the way we stopped in a little grocery store in a village of Natachtari. Smell of freshly baked bread was coming in through a small window between bakery and the store. I looked inside. Friendly baker and owner of the store in one person greeted me promptly and invited me to have a look. In the next minute I and Zsolti were standing inside the bakery with a glass of home-made liquor in our hands. “I am David! What is your name?” “Dodi and this is my friend Zsolti.” “Žoltyj?” asked David in amusement (interpreter’s note: in Russian Žoltyj means yellow). “Not Žoltyj, but Zsolti.” First we toasted to friendship and friends, then to family. The third toast was to beautiful homeland Georgia, fourth was to beautiful homeland Slovakia, fifth to women, sixth to bread. After the sixth shot I was sorry I even stepped into the bakery. As soon as the glass was empty David refilled it readily. When the glass was still full, David encouraged us to drink it, for we were some tough guys. The seventh toast was to the God. Meanwhile I asked the God quietly to help me out of this situation. There my cell phone rang and they told me, our documents were ready. Great, it was the right time. Otherwise we couldn’t escape David. I explained him that we would like to stay gladly but we really had to go. David made a sad face but proposed another toast “to the Christ”. After we drank to God’s son we stood by the door. David hugged us and we had to promise to come back. In the end he added: “I almost forgot, we have to toast to your lucky journey!”
Areni in Areni
Our journey was really lucky, it went very well. The next day we arrived to Areni, a little village 30 km away from Iran. This area includes autonomous republic Nakhchivan and stretches through south east Caucasian plain. It is an enclave of Azerbaijan locked among Armenia, Iran
and Turkey. “Nakhchivan lays behind that hill. Azerbijanis were shooting at us during armed attack between Armenia and Azerbaijan because of Nagorno-Karabakh. It was from 1992 to 1994.” Told us local winemaker Haik, while we were tasting his Areni Noir. “Truce was declared. Not all
Muslims are the same. Iranians are decent. Few know that many Christian sights were preserved there. Azerbijans on the other hand are barbarians. Between 1998 and 2005, after independence was declared, they destroyed all Christian sights there. Cemetery in Djulfa was razed with the ground. There had been last 2000 khachkars left (out of former 10 000 khachkars) (Khachkar is a Christian gravestone, symbol of Armenian identity). Some of the khachkars were 1 500 years old. They demolished them with bulldozers, jackhammers and trucks. Khachkars were irrevocably destroyed. What a pity. They want to erase all signs of Christianity and deny the fact Christians lived there hundreds of years ago.” Explained Haik with tears in his eyes. He sipped from his glass and continued talking. He was filled with sadness but not hatred. He took a plastic bottle and poured another glass of not the best delicacy. “This is Areni” he said proudly. It is an autochthonus sort of wine, named after village we were in. It tasted like uncultivated wine, which I didn’t mind. It was the big amount of sulfur that was bothering me. It was night and we were tired. We had to rest for the next hard day. As we said goodbye for the fourth time we hoped we could really leave.
What is hidden in the Bird’s Cave?
The next morning I had a headache, probably from the wine we drank the day before. I was sitting by the river Arpa and waiting for the man who was supposed to give us a tour around excavations. Meanwhile, I was wondering what I was actually doing there. Good question. Before my trip, everyone who knew I planned to visit Caucasus asked me what for was I going there. They were puzzled even more, when I explained, I was going there because of wine. Hardly anyone would guess that “IT” all started here. Truth is that during my 15 years long wine pilgrimage I eached the stage where it is not enough for a wine to enchant me if it is mighty in mouth, has a fruity taste, is refined and balanced and remains in memory. It has to posses the most important characteristic from my point of view – peculiarity. So, I was looking for peculiarity. Unfortunately, often I drink uniformed wines that are almost perfect but clearly superficial. Armen approached us and we were ready to explore the cradle of wine. “Hello!” he said firmly. Armen doesn’t stand for nationality but it was the first name of our guide. “Welcome to Bird's Cave! My boss told me to take good care of you and show you everything.” With these words Armen headed up the steep hill and we could hardly keep up with him.
The excavations were found in karst cave above the river Arpa. Luckily it was not too far. With a camera, lenses and stative it was not a piece of cake. We reached the entrance. Opening is couple meters high and consists of big teeth shaped rocks. It resembles a fossil jaw of a giant. Armen unlocked the lock that prevents the cave from unauthorized people. One part of the excavations is outside, in front of the cave entrance. Rectangle shaped hole is up to one meter deep. There are preserved ceramic containers and some remnants. As we walked along the excavations I was excited. I felt like some Indiana Jones. We were in the area of the ancient Middle East, where one of the oldest civilizations arose. It was a centre of eastern culture. Potter's wheel was most likely invented there, too. “Bird's cave” is how locals named this place. Academics call it Areni 1. It is a cave complex consisting of three halls. They are connected with corridors. We also discovered “cellar”, “attic” and some alcoves there. The whole area of this ancient dwelling has about 500 square meters. During excavating they found pieces of fabric, fragments of bones, seeds and vine twigs and other organic relics from the Stone and Bronze Age. Radiocarbon dating showed that the samples were around six to seven thousand years old. Ceramic containers of different sizes and shapes, wine press and other artefacts found at the back of the first hall show that this place was a manufactory. Perfectly preserved rests of sediment inside of the containers used for fermentation show that wine was being produced there. The cave offered excellent conditions for winemaking thanks to its unique and stable microclimate. Archaeologist claim that Areni 1 is one of the most unique and most preserved monuments of the Bronze Age that shows that wine had been produced more than 6 000 years ago. They produced there more wine than the inhabitants could drink. So, this must have been the oldest commercial winery yet known. I was wondering about archaic method of wine making and comparing it with some modern approaches. “We wouldn’t find pneumatic press here” – grins Armen, as if he could read my mind. On the way outside the cave we stopped in one “bar” that was in a krast cave. It was very original. Some people were celebrating there. They invited us to join them and we couldn’t resist. “We can't drink, we are driving.” This justification brought them to laugh. “Go ahead and have a drink, we are from the traffic police!”
Armenian modern trend
In a neighbouring village Rind, there is a vinary called Zorah. They bottled their first wine in 2010. Zorah is a pioneer in post-soviet era of Armenian wine making. The owner – Zorik Gharibian, is an Armenian who lives in Italy. First he wanted to buy vineyards in Tuscany. After visiting his homeland he decided to found a vinery on the land of his ancestors. Our visit was organized by his assistant. His local co-worker was waiting for us on time. On the way to the vineyards he drove in front of us in an old car. I felt we were in a time machine. The village Rind is a very remote place. It seemed very poor, even for Armenia. When the paved road ended we continued through a field. Down in the valley was a bulldozer plowing the field. When we got off the car we were amazed by the scenery. We were 1 400 meters above the sea level. Peeks covered in snow were surrounding us. Fifteen hectare of Areni Noir planted five years ago were laying in front of us. Guyotové vedenie a „kapačky In this cold and strong wind I had to shout to hear my own voice: “Is the watering necessary?” Young man explained that they couldn’t get along without it. During summer it is very hot and dry, like in a desert. In summer desert, in spring just above zero and snow leftovers... How does it look in winter here? As far as I could remember that was the most extreme place I saw a vineyard planted. I crossed my fingers! After 20 minutes I had to run away. The wind was uncompromising. The building of the vinery was not built yet. So we got samples of Karasí to take away. Our evening program was arranged.
Apple Grandpa
On the way Zsolti wanted us to stop by one of the local salesmen, who were offering their goods.This one was selling apples and apple pie. Old man hunched over the table explained differences between different sorts. He offered us to taste them. He noticed I was checking out his wrinkled hands that were handing me the apple. He understood what was on my mind. “I am a clean man” he said. So, I reached for the apple. In that moment he rinsed it in a blue plastic container with muddy water. I lost my appetite but didn’t want to offend him at all. The apple was juicy and refreshing. Zsolti was discussing different apple varieties. He pointed out proudly those kinds that we grow in Slovakia. We also tried the apple pie that resembled puree by its texture. He cut a portion for us. We had to bite it longer. After sweetness came strong apple taste. Since this was probably the man's only source of money we bought apples and the pie. We thanked him and left.
I did not find what I was looking for
We opened a bottle of Karasí from Zorah and Areni from Haik. Haik told us that even the Russian general prosecutor likes to drink it. In Haik's Areni I tasted acetate. I was struggling with this wine for a while, but then I gave up. I couldn’t enjoy it. I believe he gave us the best he could. He gave us wine in a glass not plastic bottle, after all. But I couldn’t drink it. Karasí from Zorah was also Areni Noir. Part of the wine matures in a clay amphora called karas. The producer indicates it was 30%. 40% comes from stainless tanks, 20% from French oak barrels and 10% from Armenian oak barrels. They produced 15 000 bottles all together. Thanks to the south orientation of the vineyard and reduction of harvesting 0,7 kg per plant and 24 days long maceration, the wine was of dark ruby colour, complex, fruity and with high extract. This wine is work of Italian winemaker and consultant Alberto Antonini.
He worked at famous winemakers like Antinori, Frescobaldi and Mondavi, and today he helps in wineries all around the world. I can imagine that this wine would enchant many fans of modern wines from the new world. But I am very sorry to state that I expected more distinctive and less unified wine from this place. I didn’t travel here to find this wine. Was I naive? We will see in Georgia. The next day was Easter Sunday. On our way from south Armenia we were lucky to take part in a holly mass in Khor Virap monastery. This spiritual experience was strongly imprinted in our memory.
Tasting in museum
Our last stop was in the south-east Georgia, in river basin of Alatani and Iori rivers. Tradition of winemaking in Kakheti area dates from thousand years ago. Numerous excavations prove that. In the museum of Alexander Chavchavadze in Tsinandali one can find good deal of legacy showing
rich winemaking in this area in the past. Unfortunately, during last 50 years the stress was put on quantity instead of quality, just like in former Czechoslovakia. That was because of communism. Museum has a room for wine tasting, where we could try typical sorts of wine made by local winemakers. They were showing an intriguing film on LCD screen. Historian Guram Mirtskhulava Ph.D. claims in that movie that “everything” begun there. Sumerians, Babylonians Egyptians drank wine but they were not pioneers in winemaking. They didn’t find seeds of Vitis Sylvestris there. They only found seeds of Vitis Vinifera. That shows that these civilizations did not domesticate vine. Paleo-botanist Nana Rusishvili says that the seeds found in excavations in Kvemo Kartli are direct proof that the wild vine was domesticated here around 8 000 years ago. The same proves Patrick McGovern Ph.D. the scientific director of biomolecular archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania who was studying the seeds from Shulaveri. He dates the seeds back to 7 000 B.C. another proof of sophisticated winemaking in this area are dozens of ceramic amphoras
found in the excavations. Some of them are even 2 meters tall. We were tasting prepared samples during the movie. Sommelier Rezo presented a toast with every sample. That's the way it goes in Georgia. To family, to homeland, to us... After about 10thBefore we headed to Telavi we managed to look at treasure hidden in cellar. There were over 150 years old pieces from Bordeaux. The oldest wine I ever drank was Cos D´Estournel 1928 and that one was past its prime. With question on my mind, whether they were drinkable and how they tasted, we ended our tour.
Wine from qvevri
Telavi is a midpoint of this area. In this little city itself, was a massive reconstruction going on. It was in a bad condition when we were there. But looking at the buildings I assumed it must have been nice in the past. It would be good to come back in a few years, when the reconstruction will be finished. There are vineyards all around the city. Rkatsiteli and Mtsvane are the most spread strains. One can see big parcels as well as many small allotments near houses. In these private gardens is wine made in the traditional way. Picked grapes are put into wooden tubs. Tubs have shape of watering place for cattle. Then farmers wash their feet and trample the grape. Juice and grape skins travel into ceramic amphora called qvevri. Qvevris are hidden in the ground, only the opening is visible. An amphora can have volume over 2 000 litres. Must ferments and amphoras are closed by a stone plug for another six months. Usually they are covered with soil, which looks like big molehills. In the spring is the wine separated from the skins. However, it is not filtered, but pumped into a clean qvevri and sealed. Then it is up to every winemaker for how long he or she lets the wine mature in the cold soil. The opening of qvevri is very different from what we know as tasting of young wine. It is more
of a mystic ritual. According to old tamada(s) (a Georgian toastmaster) is opening of wine a very important happening. Vine is poured out of amphora with a wooden spoon (dzelbari) and is drunk from cattle horns or ceramic cups that look like tea cups. They sing songs and tell
stories. They also bake shashlik (skewered meat). Wine is not filtered, rustic and for common consumer not very tasty. But one can find some wineries that are more main-stream oriented. One of them is Schuchmann Wines Georgia. It is based on German resources and Georgian
tradition. This winery is a compromise between home-made wines in a traditional way and a modern winemaking - meaning using technology. They have a basic series. Besides used strains Tsinandali, Mtsvane, Rkatsiteli and Seperavi it is not very unique. We can find there Chardonnay
and Cabernet Sauvignon, too. These wines are made for export mostly. Potential customers are attracted by exotic origin of this wine and its price. If there wasn’t series Vinoterra, I would not talk about this winery. Vinoterra is a mixture of terroir and traditional methods. In this case at
least part of the wine matures in amphoras. The result is very interesting. It is something that I expected from Georgian wine. I liked Kisi very much. I brought this wine home to Slovakia for wine tasting.
If you were to ask me whether this journey fulfilled my expectations, I couldn’t answer. Anyway, it was an enriching experience. It is questionable whether the first wine was made in Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijan or Turkey territory. But it seems it was in the Caucasus region.
“Kaumadžos!“ (Cheers!)
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Text a foto: Dodi Fodor
