Today we were riding in dual sport motorcycle heaven in Georgia roads, on what I can only describe as one of the best motorcycle rides of my 2018. Twisties on end, mountains in the background and a little water crossing to cool the excitement down, was the recipe for our riding day on our way to Kakheti's wine region.
The plan was simple, go from Tbilisi to Kvareli, a small place in the province of Kakheti, deep in the center of yet another part of the wine route of the country.
Both I and Charlotte are at this point struggling. Since Istanbul that we have been fighting food poisoning in one way or the other, not having much more than a couple of good days in the last almost month and a half, and even though our spirits are high, our bodies are nearly depleted of energy, and that is taking a tool.
But we set ourselves to do a job, to learn and taste wines and teas around the world, and so we did.
After an incredible riding day, with incredible motorcycle touring roads, stellar weather and the bikes running like Swiss watches, we arrived in Kvareli, a seemingly lost city on the base of the mountains that would serve as a base of operations for our wine ventures.
We had planned there to visit the longest wine cellar in the world - 7.7 kms carved inside a mountain - a few vineyards including one from a well-known priest. Sadly, we didn’t manage that as our bodies caved into the wear and tear of the weeks of stress we have been submitting them to, and for two days we didn’t manage to get out of bed. However, eventually, we did! And we made our way into Kindzmarauli Corporation Wine House.
I must say it was a great experience seeing the more corporate side of Georgian wine with a tour delivered by a great guide that answered all our questions and more. But of course, no wine tour can be completed without wine tastings.
I’m unclear why, but instead of the 4 standard wine tastings, we got to try 7 of their productions, from European wines to European Georgian style wines. This tasting was probably the most exciting part of our wine adventure in Georgia, and not necessarily because some of them reminded us of Portuguese wines, but because we got to taste a bit of what can be the future of Georgian wines, with very very exciting blends and single grape manufactures of what they called European Georgian style wines are wines that start their life in a Qvevri
and pass by a barrel before they go on the bottle, and uau they were an experience, and that said experience made our day! Such a great wine day!
