Close your eyes, and think back to your high school history class when you first learned about Marco Polo (the real person, not the game played in a pool). While many have traveled the famous ‘Silk Road‘ Marco Polo is arguably the most famous traveler. According to UNESCO, as a young merchant he journeyed over the famed route for 24 years. Part of his journey took him into the southern Caucasus and Georgia, which has now been acknowledged by many archaeologists as the oldest wine making country in the world.

According to History.com, the “Silk Road was a network of trade routes connecting China and the Far East with the Middle East and Europe.” The pre-cursor to today’s international trade routes throughout the world, the Silk Road’s greatest accomplishment, even more so than trade, was the exchange of culture that took place. Language, technology, art, and religion were just some of the philosophies that took place as merchants traveled the various routes. According to Advantour.com, a retaining wall of the Silk Road leading to the Nakhar pass in Georgia still survives.

Considered the ‘cradle of wine’, the National Geographic confirms that the world’s first known wine creation in the country of Georgia goes back to the year 6,000 B.C. That’s some pretty old wine!

The Qvevri wine making process involves pressing grapes in a traditional stone or wooden wine press – pouring juice, stalks, and pips into the qvevri. Winemakers determine the amount of skins and seeds left in the qvevri, which can influence the flavor. Grapes can either be red or white, however, the Georgian tradition Qvevri wines are amber, which is produced from white grapes.

Wine makers literally plant the qvevri in the ground with the rim of the vessel at ground level, sealed with a stone, glass, or metal lid, and often covered with a top glass style sealer. Qvevri wines macerate for a period of three to six months before they are removed, and can be used for hundreds of years if properly cleaned and maintained.

One of the most interesting facts about Georgia’s wine making is the use of the qvevri (ke-vri). The vessels range in size from 100 to 3,500 liters, with the largest big enough for a person to climb into for cleaning. Some qvevri makers use beeswax to seal the inside walls, with a coating of lime or cement on the outside, with the beeswax helping to waterproof and sterilize the qvevri. Take notice of the shape of the vessel. How and where do you think they are stored? The word qvevri according to UNESCO comes from kveuri, which means “that which is buried” – that’s right, the qvevri vessel is buried underground utilizing natural, underground temperature control.

Silk Road Wines, located in Orlando, Florida, specializes in the natural wines from the country of Georgia, and features the following Qvevri wines:

• Qvevri (kwe-vree) Organic Rose – limited edition wine featuring 60% Rkatsiteli (Rrrr-cat-sit-tell-ee) and 40% Saparavi (Sah-per-ah-vee)  grapes from the Kakheti (Kah-ket-ee) region.
• KhikhVi – Qvevri amber dry made 100% from the the Khikvi grape from the Kakheti region.
• RkatSiteli – Qvevri amber dry made with 80% Rkatsiteli and 20% Mtsvane grapes from the Kakheti region.

That’s it for this time…make sure you sign up for our St. George Club to receive notice of new products, information, and most important – when a new blog is up. Our next blog will feature the micro-regions of Georgia followed by a primer on just how to pronounce the wines and other Georgian vocabulary.