Sunday, Sept. 23rd, 2012, I
attended with Patrick Lynch & Irma Tchokonelidze the 5th annual wine and cheese expo at the Georgian Expo in
Some great cheeses were offered to guests, and my favorite of all was the booth run by the sisters of the Orthodox Church, the Pokha Nunnery Cheese exhibition. www.facebook.com/phokanunnerycheese . Among the rare and exotic hand made and carefully cured hard and soft cheeses, my Phoka favorites were the Monastic Blue cheese, fermented for three months in walnut leaves; and the Caneo cheese, an interesting granulated cheese made with fungus of the blue variety, and wrapped in ashes during fermentation and curing; and of course, the Petit Blue, small little hard sacks of noble blue mold hard cheese.
http://agrosc.ge/news.php?lang=en&id=454
AGRO’s
AGRO’s
AGRO Wines
below tested and tasted by Bryan Adrian.
His evaluation [of 25 wines; he might have been able to rate a few more,
but was a little bit tipsy near the end of 25 varieties !!]
Agro wines: REDS
MERLOT – the Agro Company wine [Agro = NCGFPMP = National for Grapevine & Fruit Tree Planting Material Propagation] merlot red wine was rather good, but not complex and rich like a real European red merlot wine. Maybe this grape does not like the soil here.
ALEXANDROULI -- a traditional red Georgian wine that for me was lighter than Saperavi with a little bit less sour taste. I am not fond of Saperavi wine, due to the strong tannic acids. But for a Alexandrouli, this was a good one from Agro wines.
DANAKHARULI – this red wine is tastier than the Alexandrouli above, and less stringent than Saperavi.
MESHKHURISHAVI – this wine is equally as sharp and pungent and tannic as a Saperavi, but to my tongue somewhat tastier.
USAKHEBURI – a deep rosé pink color, almost
tastes like a red variety of the white
TAVKERI -- this grape is natural and native to
CHUMUTA 1 – very strong and tannic and heavy like a Saperavi, but a tiny bit better for many western tastes.
Agro wines: WHITES
KHIKHVI – a very smooth Georgian white wine with a hint of green wine Mtsvani flavor and tartness, seemingly blended with a Tsinandali mildness, overall a near European white wine experience. This Agro Khikhvi to me was even better than the successful wines of Chateau Mere.
CHITISTVALA BODBURI – this white wine is a bit salty in taste similar to some “salty” Portuguese white wines. This is a new experimental wine with a local grape not made into wine by many vintners in the past.
GRDZELMTEVANA – a fruity but rather good Georgian white wine.
KAKHURI MTSVIVANI – my Georgian friends who were with me
and who have lived in
SAPENA – slightly sweet tasting dry wine with a hint of European taste, that to me was average to good.
DONDGLABI – Zesty zingy Tsinandali type wine that is sassier in taste. Not bad, not great.
TETRI BUDESHURI – this white wine has a nearly European taste but comes across as a good average wine.
TSULUKIDZIS TETRA – this wine is much like the Budeshuri above but much more intense.
CHINURI – if you can imagine what a mixture of Georgian white wine flavors and European flavors, in the dry zone of wines, and then further feel in your mouth a strong “mild” taste, that is what this Chinuri feels like on your tongue.
KUNDZA – not great, not bad, an “almost” German white wine taste in a very Georgian white wine.
ALAZANI – This tastes like a smooth and pleasant and tasty “spicy” somehow Tsinandali.
OTHER LINKS:
http://bryanadrian_writer.tripod.com/Levan_Ujmajuridze.html
http://bryanadrian_writer.tripod.com/Dato_Sopadze_Winery.html
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-628249
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-628246
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-628247
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-628248
Other related and/or similar websites on
wine in Nation of Georgia!
http://bryanadrian_writer.tripod.com/agro-winery.html
Levan Ujmajuridze
wines
http://bryanadrian_writer.tripod.com/Levan_Ujmajuridze.html
Bagdati wine valley needs private investors
https://britishcouncil-tbilisi.angelfire.com/Georgian-Wineries.html
Georgian Wines
promoted on Vimeo
DISNEY
"mosque ruins" in Republic of Georgia?
http://carpathian_bronze.tripod.com/RABATI_GEORGIA.html
Simon
Chkheidzes Wine Cellar, Village
Meore Obcha, Baghdati Municipality,
western Region Imereti, Georgia
+995 599 791 303 mnchkheidze@gmail.com https://www.winesgeorgia.com/site/domaine/simon-chkheidze-cellar
Baia
Abuladze is the founder of Baia’s Wine. Her family owns vineyards in the village of Meore Obcha, Baghdati, western Georgia, where
they produce up to 8,000 bottles of wine
(“Tsolikouri”, “Krakhuna”, “Aladasturi”, “Ojaleshi”, “Otskhanuri Sapere”) for commercial sale.
http://indigo.com.ge/articles/adventurer/say-hello-georgian-winemaker-baia-abuladze-baias-wine
Another Baghdati vintner in the western
region, Tarasi Minadze
wine cellar.
https://www.webstagramsite.com/user/phersvi8000
Memories
of Obcha
Baghdati western wine region of Georgia when it vied with Khakheti for producing quality export wines during the
Soviet Era….
https://britishcouncil-tbilisi.angelfire.com/Georgian-Wineries.html
Dato Sopadze Winery,
Obcha-1, Bagdati
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200381777523297.1073741828.1121138717&type=1&l=5b7f124ba6
Best
places to sample and taste hundreds of
unknown unique western Georgia wines in Batumi in the hospitality of sommelier Beka Minadze
https://www.facebook.com/bqwinebar/
https://www.facebook.com/buandkhari/
Ketevan Berishvili -- it
was GREAT to see you featured at minute 12:45 in France24's TALKING EUROPE! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEwdzbmwNCA
Georgia: From Silk Road crossroads to EU connections (part 2)
NON FICTION by Bryan
Adrian
http://bryanadrian_
writer.tripod.com/Non_Fiction_by_Bryan_Adrian.htm
FICTION by
Bryan Adrian
http://bryanadrian_writer.tripod.com/Fiction_by_Bryan_Adrian.htm