Rus: Georgian Wines and Spirits - Page 8

Wine vessels of every shape, size and design account for the bulk of earthenware artifacts unearthed by Georgian archeologists. The Georgian craft of pottery is millennia old. Ancient artifacts attest to the high skill of Georgian craftsmen in whose hands water, clay and fire turned into an object of an exceptional beauty much admired by people. The most impressive of all archeological finds are kvevri, giant clay vessels in which wine was fermented and stored up. The old ones used to dig them into soil, just as we are doing now. Georgian museums have on display numerous clay vessels of all designations. Some were used to ferment grape juice and to store up wine, such as kvevri, chapi and satskhao, and others were used for drinking, such as khelada, doki, sura, chinchila, deda-khelada, dzhami and marani. For ages, artisans polished their skills to improve these vessels. The secrets of trade passed on from fathers to sons. Modern potters carefully study the ancient craft and decorative patterns and create their own pottery making extensive use of ancient national traditions and using the latest scientific and technological achievements to enrich ancient traditions.

Many of the unearthed silver, gold and bronze artifacts of the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C bear chased imprints of the vine, grape clusters and leaves. On the basis of this evidence it is safe to say that viniculture has a long record in Georgian history. The State Museum of Georgia has on display a cup of high-carat gold set with gems, an ornamented silver pitcher and some other artifacts dated the 2nd millennium B. C. The museum of history has a cameo depicting Bacchus. Numerous sarcophagi with wine pitchers and ornamented wine cups, found in ancient toms, are a proof that wine was nothing unusual for Georgians at all times.

Resources:

Kartveli Wines & Spirits, Irakles Duzhmadze, pamphlet in Russian & Georgian 1990

Wines of the World, Helmut Kirscher, booklet, Berlin-Germany 1989

http://www.selectwinesllc.com/swllc/repo...

http://www.winefromgeorgia.com/home.htm

http://www.tbilvino.com.ge

http://www.alaverdi-wine.com/alaverdi-wi...

http://www.winesandvines.com/headline_11...