Day 3 in Republic of Georgia – 6.25.26

Our third day, Friday, June 26th, was another full day in the Kakheti Region of Eastern Georgia. After a leisurely morning, where I had the opportunity to go for a nice run on the beautiful estate that our hotel sits on, we left our impressive hotel and travelled further east, reaching the town of Sighnaghi. At this point we are almost in Azerbaijan – it was probably a day’s walk away.

We visited Pheasant’s Tears Winery near Sighnaghi with a wine tasting and tour of the vineyards with John Wurdeman, who founded the winery 20 years ago. Afterwards, we had an amazing meal at the winery on a delightful porch overlooking the vineyards and the beautiful Alazani Valley. John, the founder, mentioned four attributes of Georgian wine that makes it unique. History – it has been producing wine continuously for 8,000 years. Diversity of terroir – Georgia has more geographic and climate diversity than most other wine producing countries. Diversity of grape varieties – over 500 varieties that are indigenous to Georgia. Wine making process – the use of Qvevri’s, where the wine is aged naturally for anywhere between 1 and 6 months. These large clay vessels, which are buried in the ground, produce the natural wines that John (who produces 80,000 bottles a year), Shota (who produces 3,000 bottles a year) and other wine producers in Georgia are so passionate about.

To take a break from drinking so much wine, we motored to Lost Ridge Inn Brewery for local craft beer. But before the beer tasting, a few of us got on horses for an 1-hour trail ride. This was the first time I had ridden a horse since riding one 24 years ago at the Homestead for Carter’s 10th birthday. I now know why people wear riding boots when riding.

After riding I was thirsty for some beer. And the beer tasting did not disappoint. Paul, the brewer who led the tasting, is originally from California. He was excited for us to try a new beer made with wild yeast. Of the four beers we tried, it was actually my favorite. It had not even been labeled or named yet. So, our group had a great time coming up with names for this beer made with wild yeast!

After our visit to Lost Ridge Brewery we motored to the hilltop town of Sighnaghi with its historic defensive wall. As we stood overlooking the valley we could imagine the Mongols, Persians and Turks sweeping into the valley that looked so vulnerable below us.

Before we Supra’d (new word) at Pheasant’s Tears restaurant, located in the town of Sighnaghi, we were able to see some of John Wurdeman’s art work, located in one of the rooms adjacent to the restaurant. When I am with this successful wine maker, resteranteur and entrepreneur, I forget that he is also a very accomplished artist.

During dinner we were entertained by polyphonic singing group Zedashe. When we arrived at our hotel late that night, I remember thinking as My head hit the pillow, “I am not sure I can keep this up for 9 more days!” Elizabeth and I have good friends (Denise and Jeff) who love good food and wine. And I can remember being with them on a trip to California years ago where we enjoyed similar eating and drinking. One night I just tapped out and stayed in my room and ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I may need to do the same thing on this trip!