Wine

“In this village, when a baby is born, it doesn’t matter what the parents want, that child is already a winemaker,” says Archil Guniava with a wry smile as we walk along a hedge-lined lane in the village towards his vineyards. The village, Kvaliti, is a few minutes’ drive south-west of Zestaponi, one of the region’s largest towns, and is in the heart of wine country at 250 metres (820 feet) above sea level. Unlike in France or California, where that phrase suggests large expanses of delineated vine monoculture, in most areas of rural Georgia vineyards are interspersed with houses, orchards, animal shelters and vegetable gardens. Wine has always been considered an integral part of the family larder, and one of the most important ‘foods’ at the dining table.