As recently noted on Eurasianet, Georgian wines are slowly returning to the Russian market, after a seven-year ban. What this all means for the Georgian wine industry is still unclear and is one of the issues discussed in an interesting recent piece produced by Al Jazeera English, which took a good look at how the Georgian wine has fared over the last seven years. The video can be viewed below:
Meanwhile, while Georgian wine has been getting all the attention recently, connoisseurs know that when it comes to drinking in Georgia, the local grape brandy known as "chacha" is where it's really at. A kind of Georgian moonshine cooked up in backyard stills and frequently served out of repurposed plastic bottles, the clear liquor casts a strong spell on those who drink it. Case in point is a recent "Letter from Georgia" in the Guardian, written by Dan Peleschuk, who describes his close encounter with chacha:
Our guide, Lasha, couldn't find any other words: "Have a couple shots," he kept saying with a wry smile, "and you'll be set…."
….Once the khinkali had cooled, we raised our glasses, and toasted to one another. The subtle taste of grape tingled through my mouth as the high alcohol content registered, lighting my sinuses ablaze. A quick gulp of the salty juices from the khinkali neutralised the residual bitterness, but the satisfying burn remained. We repeated the process several times as the smile on my face grew larger. I soon realised Lasha was right: I was set.
The trip back to Tbilisi was swift. I began pulsating with excitement to explore the tree-lined streets and decaying, Tsarist-era buildings – sights we'd seen before, but not after several rounds of chacha. We bade Lasha farewell and escaped into the night, popping into one cafe after another. Somehow, the chacha changed everything. I was not drunk, but electric. My head wasn't spinning – it was sprinting ahead, along Tbilisi's winding streets.
For those adventurous travelers in Istanbul interested in trying chacha, Istanbul Eats has a tip for a rough and tumble Georgian restaurant where the hooch is brought in regularly from Georgia. And it turns out chacha has recently arrived in Manhattan, where the borough's first Georgian restaurant has just opened and is now serving up chacha-based cocktails. More info here.
Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.