Perhaps aware of Hillary Clinton's fondness for cutting loose with a bottle of brew in hand, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili hosted the visiting American Secretary of State at a wine-filled dinner at restaurant in the Black Sea resort town of Batumi. Reports the, ahem, Daily Mail (in a photo-filled dispatch):
Hillary Clinton made sure to have a little fun on her latest official trip by taking some time out to taste the best wine that Georgia had to offer.
The Secretary of State seemed to be in high spirits as she chatted with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and surveyed a variety of wine at the Adjarian Wine House in Batumi, a beach town decidedly off the beaten path of high-level political conferences.
She was pictured trying at least three different variations of the restaurant’s vintages, and laughing with the President and First Lady over champagne when they first sat down to dinner.
The Georgian president has lately emerged as an important booster of his country's wine industry. Saakhasvili has his own vineyard in the famous winemaking region of Kakheti, where he treats visiting dignitaries to sips of his presidential blend. And according to one recent report, Saakashvili has even proposed planting a vineyard next to Tbilisi's airport, so that visitors can get a taste of Georgian wine (Chateau d'Airport?) as soon as they get off the plane. As they say, when life gives you grapes, make wine.
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