The people of\u00a0Georgia<\/a>\u00a0might well be the first folks who ever got properly wine-drunk.<\/p>\n Straddling the\u00a0Promethean<\/a>\u00a0Caucasus mountains, wedged between both Black and Caspian seas, Georgia is a cultural crossroads between Europe and Asia. Its fertile valleys and slopes yielded the\u00a0oldest archaeological evidence<\/a>\u00a0of wine production currently on record. During my short yet delightfully buzzed visit last fall, it was apparent that they’ve only gotten better at both the making and the drinking. Georgian winemaking traditions are hard won; in the Soviet era, many indigenous grape varieties were lost to brutish demands for quantity, not quality. Some families preserved precious varieties in secret.<\/p>\n I saw this heady spirit in the small town of Kachreti at the Burjanadze family home. At a traditional\u00a0supra\u00a0<\/em>(banquet), my host and\u00a0tomada<\/em>\u00a0(toastmaster) poured glass after glass of his own inky red Saperavi, each after a heartfelt toast, before bursting into a polyphonic song alongside his father. The wine came from a\u00a0qvevri<\/em>, a traditional clay pot submerged in his backyard, and the bottle’s label was stamped with his family’s fingerprints, several of whom shared the table and the cherished moment. <\/p>\n Georgia also gave the world one of the 20th century’s worst tyrants, Josef Stalin. Born in Gori, west of capital city Tbilisi, Stalin’s dark shadow lingers. Venture across the Kura River a few miles outside the city center and find yourself down a dank underground museum where a young revolutionary Stalin printed secret pamphlets during the Bolshevik Revolution. A charming yet perhaps contextually overeager docent asks you to sign a guest book scattered among USSR memorabilia.<\/p>\n Soviet-era grisliness aside, it’s an understatement to say Georgian politics have been complicated. Surrounded on all sides by great powers, the seismic situation encompasses many languages, plus the friction of competing political ideas and faiths in Armenia and Azerbaijan. Most notably it shares a contested border with Russia, the bear next door\u00a0with an appetite.<\/a><\/p>\n If geography really is destiny, then the Georgian situation has understandably necessitated a stiff, perpetual drink.<\/p>\n After the Soviet Union’s collapse and at least a decade’s worth of post-Soviet corruption, a young Mikheil Saakashvili climbed Parliament’s stairs with flowers in hand. The Rose Revolution swept Saakashvili into office peacefully; he reduced government corruption and increased economic liberalization, spurred on by his libertarian-leaning minister of economy, Kakha Bendukidze. Georgia’s economy received a jolt, as if the whole country had taken a shot of its beloved brandy chacha<\/a>\u00a0(second only to the wine) and raised eyebrows in the Western world with the speed and success of those reforms. <\/p>\n Though Saakashvili left a mixed legacy (he’s now imprisoned on abuse of power charges), the stickiness of those free market ideas and reforms is notable, however fraught the country remains.\u00a0Girchi<\/a>, the only official libertarian party in a post-Soviet state outside of Russia, was formed by dissenters from Saakashvili’s United National Movement party after his collapse. It has since advocated both economic and drug liberalization, while staging stunts against conscription and state crackdowns on sex workers, going so far as opening a brothel in its party headquarters.<\/p>\n Georgia remains a swirl of political foment, as I realized by stumbling accidentally onto Rustaveli Avenue before fall parliamentary elections. Thousands of Georgians paraded, draped in Georgian and European Union colors, marching in support of then-President Salome Zourabichvili, as she tried to hold off billionaire and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream party. Ivanishvili’s ties to Russia and presence in politics still loom large, much like his\u00a0Bond villain\u2013esque mansion<\/a>\u00a0perched high above Tbilisi.<\/p>\n Despite the turbulence, pockets of Tbilisi buzz with young entrepreneurs reclaiming and redefining the Georgian trajectory, one pointed decidedly west. Down an unassuming street, there’s\u00a0Lasha Devdariani<\/a>\u00a0selling handcrafted silk robes from his cozy studio, some of which cloaked Tilda Swinton in\u00a0Only Lovers Left Alive<\/em>. Walk into Sololaki where traditional meets modern at\u00a0Iasamani<\/a> restaurant\u2014bare candles burning over peeling paint, cracked tiles, and\u00a0khachapuri<\/a>\u00a0hint at the history of both the room and the nation. Around the corner the gents at\u00a041 Degrees Art of Drinks<\/a> sling cocktails from a handwritten book that taste like the throng on Rustaveli Avenue felt: fiery and self–assured.<\/p>\n John Steinbeck heard of Georgia’s magic before arriving in 1947 at the start of the Cold War. In\u00a0A Russian Journal<\/em>,he noted: “People who had never been there and possibly never could go there spoke of Georgia with a kind of longing and great admiration. They spoke of Georgians as supermen, as great drinkers, great dancers, great musicians, great workers and lovers. And they spoke of the country in the Caucasus and around the Black Sea as a kind of second heaven.”<\/p>\n More people, especially free thinkers and drinkers, should visit. Drink the wine, pet the dogs (tagged strays roam lazily, freely, even into bars and hotel lobbies), shoot the chacha, stare at giant Jesus in Holy Trinity Cathedral, devour\u00a0khinkali<\/em>\u00a0(hands only), and let the hospitality intoxicate you in its distinctly Georgian way.<\/p>\n It’s best to have a car to see Georgia at your own pace. Pick up a rental and head to your hotel.<\/p>\n Stay in Tbilisi for three nights.<\/p>\n Start your adventure by getting a feel for Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi. This is a place where the old meets the new, offering a mix of historic sites and trendy bars and restaurants. <\/p>\n The Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi\u00a0is the largest Orthodox church in Georgia and boasts fantastic views of the city. Next, take the\u00a0Tbilisi Funicular\u00a0up to\u00a0Mtatsminda Pantheon, where some of Georgia’s most prominent writers, artists, and national heroes are buried. Up there, you can enjoy\u00a0Mtatsminda Park\u00a0and get a view of former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili’s stunning house. Take the\u00a0Rustaveli-Mtatsminda Cable Car\u00a0back down the hill to end the trip. <\/p>\n Go where the wind blows today, and be sure to drink some wine along the way. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Optional activities:\u00a08000 Vintages wine shop and bar,\u00a0Cafe Daphna,\u00a0Dry Bridge Market,\u00a0Queen Darejan Palace,\u00a0Tbilisi State Academy of Arts,\u00a0the National Gallery, Underground Printing House Museum<\/p>\n Head east for your two-hour drive to\u00a0Sighnaghi, known as “the city of love” and located in the heart of Georgia’s wine region. Revel in the colorful buildings, the medieval architecture, and the stunning Caucasus mountains on the horizon. And of course, the wine. Visit the\u00a0Kerovani Winery\u00a0to sample an assortment of Georgian wines and learn about the traditional Kakhetian method of winemaking in\u00a0qvevri<\/em>\u00a0(clay vessels).<\/p>\n Stay in Sighnaghi for two nights.<\/p>\n Enjoy your final day in Georgia!<\/p>\n Optional activities:\u00a0Sighnagi National Museum,\u00a0St. George Church,\u00a0Marriage Palace,\u00a0The Sighnaghi World War II Memorial,\u00a0Sighnaghi Wall<\/p>\n Drive back to Tbilisi for your return flight home.<\/p>\n The post Georgia: The Possible Birthplace of Wine and Definite Birthplace of Stalin<\/a> appeared first on Reason.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If geography really is destiny, then the Georgian situation has understandably necessitated a stiff, perpetual drink. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[10,19,9,162],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120270"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120270\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/3rdcitynews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net\/img\/q60\/uploads\/2025\/06\/georgia3-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n6 Days in Georgian Wine Country<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net\/img\/q60\/uploads\/2025\/06\/georgiaitinerary4-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>Day 1<\/strong>
Flight to Tbilisi<\/strong><\/h2>\nDay 2<\/strong>
Explore Tbilisi<\/strong><\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net\/img\/q60\/uploads\/2025\/06\/georgiaitinerary2-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net\/img\/q60\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Georgiaitinerary-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>Day 3<\/strong>
Free day in Tbilisi<\/strong><\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net\/img\/q60\/uploads\/2025\/06\/georgiaitinerary5-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net\/img\/q60\/uploads\/2025\/06\/georgiaitinerary3-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>Day 4<\/strong>
Self-Drive to Sighnaghi<\/strong><\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net\/img\/q60\/uploads\/2025\/06\/georgiaitinerary6-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>Day 5<\/strong>
Free day in Sighnaghi<\/strong><\/h2>\nDay 6<\/strong>
Flight Home<\/strong><\/h2>\n