Georgia 4 Ukraine - For Peace

This episode is dedicated to the people of Ukraine. 

We talk to two leading figures in the Georgian wine scene - John Wurdeman (Pheasant's Tears) and Irakli Cholobargia (National Wine Agency) - to get a sense of what the feeling is in the region, and what wine people are doing and can do to help.

Georgia, like Ukraine, is a former Soviet nation on the Black Sea that has had part of its territory occupied by the Russian military. These people are uniquely qualified to comment on the horrific events unfolding in Ukraine.

There's talk of tension, anger, fear, boycotts and suffering. Wurdeman dubs the conflict, 'fratricide,' but notes Georgians are forced to mute their opposition for fear of reprisals by Russia. Before the war broke out, 70% of Georgian wine exports went to Russia and Ukraine. That will have serious implications.

But it's not all doom and gloom. There is talk of kindness, solidarity, peace and generosity. 'You can see the flags of Ukraine all over Georgia,' says Cholobargia. Winemakers in Georgia are sending wines to Ukrainian importers to help them fund humanitarian efforts.

What's more, Wurdeman's UK importer Les Caves de Pyrene is funding transportation for Ukrainian refugees to stay with winemaking families across Europe. 'So hopefully we can have a little bit of love in an otherwise big nightmare,' says Wurdeman.

We also find time to touch on how and why Georgian amber (or orange) wine is so well suited to food matching, and how Georgia's ancient wine history is informing its present evolution. 

A final thought from John Wurdeman: 'The Georgian format for feasting is where you have an elected toastmaster and different subjects are touched upon: love, parents, children, nature, God, neighbours and so forth. And everyone’s encouraged to expand upon it and have a dialogue. It’s a wonderful way to get to know people, and a wonderful way to solve problems as well. It certainly seems to be more effective than NATO or the UN today! So maybe these international organisations should adopt the Georgian feasting model and we would find peace more quickly.'

If you'd like to support the excellent initiative by Les Caves de Pyrene, click here to access the crowdfunding (JustGiving) page to relocate Ukrainian refugees with winemaking families.

To learn more about Georgia, check out Peter's brand new wine & travel series - The Wild Side of Wine on WineMasters.TV It features everything from neolithic picnics in the middle of a thunderstorm to a winemaking centre for a ghostly cave city. Via Stalin, power cuts, a 400-year-old-vine, a vineyard with 400+ wine grape varieties - and a feast of wine, food and song.

The trailer for this show, plus all the usual details from this episode, are on our website: Georgia 4 Ukraine show notes on susieandpeter.com