5 facts about Georgian wine

Georgia claims to be the cradle of wine. Georgian wine has a long-standing history and is very popular around the world.

1. Wine and spirit in Georgia are produced with traditional methods. Almost every family owns a vineyard and makes wine or Georgian traditional spirit Chacha.

2. Georgia is the country where the earliest evidence of grape wine-making was found. Telltale chemical signs of wine in the pottery jars, discovered in two Neolithic villages (called Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris Gora about 50km (30 miles) south of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia) dates back 5,980 BC. Previously, the earliest evidence of grape wine-making had been found in the Zagros Mountains of Iran and dated to 5,400-5,000 BC.

3. Wine-making traditions have been an inseparable part of Georgian identity. In the past wine cellars used to house large earthenware vessels called Qvevri or Kvevri used for the fermentation, storage, and aging of traditional Georgian wine. Some of the families and wine companies in Georgia still keep that tradition and produce wine in Kvevri.

4. Georgia grows up to 500 local vine species. Among them are Saferavi, Rqatsiteli, Afkhazura, Tsitsqa, Aleqsandrouli, etc.

5. The IX Millennium project aims to develop grapevines that will grow in the possible Red Planet agriculture pods. The research on creating a Martian-friendly grape has been launched in a number of countries including Georgia. Georgia has unique opportunities to succeed in terms of growing vine species on Mars since ancient vine cultivation is familiar to the country.