The Chavchavadze estate
Large tracts were owned by the Chavchavadze of Tsinandali, and their estate is a museum today. Tsinandali park and its beautiful gardens were established by Prince Garsevan Chavchavadze
View over the Alazani Valley to the Caucasus Mountains from the Chavchavadze estate
One of the rooms in the Chavchavadze estate
The Chavchavadze estate had also its section for wine tasting and wine buying
Next stop the Alaverdi Monastery. The Alaverdi Monastery is a Georgian Orthodox monastery located 20 km from Telavi the main town of the Kakheti region. Parts of the monastery date back to 6th century. The present day cathedral dates to the 11th century. At a height of over 55 meters, Alaverdi Cathedral is the second tallest religious building in Georgia.
New technologies provides improved connections to the Almighty
October in the main wedding month in Georgia.
We were invited to Telavi the main town in Kakheti by Zurab, but as he was busy, so his farther had to take over, and he did a very good job, first showing us around at the Chavchavadze estate, and then serving us a delicious meal with excessive amounts of home made wine
We visited the big wine produces "Kindzmarauli Marani" which uses modern technology and control methods
Also at "Kindzmarauli Marani" there were time for wine tasting and wine buying
Next stop the small town of Sighnaghi - Some squirrels were playing next to one the roads.
Sighnaghi is situated the elevation of about 790 m above seal level. The town has a well preserved defensive wall around a big area. The wall was build of the settlements in the valley, so people could seek shelter when invaders came. It has been restored and is a popular holiday resort.
In Sighnaghi there is a museum with a small exhibition of paintings by the famous Georgian painter Niko Pirosmani. He is famous for his paintings of the Georgian supra, portraits, pictures of animals, scenes of rural life and landscapes.
Both his mother and his father died when he was young. Here they are in the wine field.
Wine and Supra or feast is a central part of Georgian life. In the best Georgian traditions our team went on a weekend trip to Kakheti region, eastern Georgia, a rich valley of vineyards nestled in the mountains east of Tbilisi. Georgians claim that wine-making was invented in Kakheti. In any case, in-the-ground clay vessels for grape fermentation were found near Ikalto which held 30 000 liters, dated to around 3000 BC.
During Soviet times Georgian wines were quite poor, despite what every Georgian claims. Only very recently have modern methods been introduced, and now there are some estates that produce competitive wines for the European market.
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