Wine Stories

Georgian culture and traditions are inconceivable without Georgian Supra and related institutions. This is a ritual being developed and refined throughout the centuries, which is more like a prayer than just a collective cheer-up and repast.  Supra is leaded by a Tamada being an organizer and a mentor of the Supra-companions with whom he praises the God, implores God for health, love and well-being of the country, the nation, the guests and hosts, all table-companions. The attendees of the Georgian Supra do not overlook either dead or alive among relatives and friends, they praise each of them for all their virtues and great deeds and extend it across the country and the nation. All the above mentioned is performed with divine liquid –wine through the toasts that are backed by eloquence, poetry, dance and songs. Georgian Supra is the rise of the virtues and not an orgy – it is the part of nation’s spiritual heritage that has to be preserved and attended. 

For old Georgians in ancient times, wine cellar (Marani ) had not only a technical purpose but a religious one as well.  When Georgia was invaded by the horde of enemies (and it was a common Georgian reality) and the churches and monasteries were destroyed, some sacred rituals like religious wedding ceremonies and baptizing were practiced in the wine cellars (marani). This must obviously be the reason that most of the ancient wine cellars that have survived till today bear special ornaments and decorations. It is worth mentioning that being about to construct a house, a Georgian commenced by building a wine cellar first burying the clay pitchers (kvevri) under the ground followed by taking care of the rest of the building. 

Open-air wine cellars are common in West Georgia. They are widely spread in Imereti, Qvemo Racha, Lechkhumi, Guria, however they are less found in Samegrelo. One of the main components of the open air wine cellars is the open-air area where the pitchers are buried under the ground. 

Limestone wine cellar is common in Kakheti and Kartli where one can find very old samples of them. Sometimes they are very big being 10 meters in length. In the beginning these kinds of cellars had the mud-roofing; though, later they were gable-roofed. Some of them can be regarded as the masterpieces of Georgian architecture. One is attracted by the magnificent structure, brick crosses lined up at the façade, brick arced entrance with a massive oak double-wing gate. The inner space of some wine cellars is divided into two unequal parts by the arched wall or a wooden pole which is heavily carved. In the larger front part of the wine cellar the pitchers are buried decorated with bricks around the edge.  

Separately erected wooden wine cellar tends to be found in Samegrelo than in any other provinces of West Georgia. Two types of it are widespread: one of boards and the other of logs. The latter of them, the log cellar, is a traditional and still remains active in Samegrelo. 

The cult of vine was born in the times immemorial and it was applied as a sacrament liquid that was used to praise the Gods (Dionysus Mystery). In the Christian era it equals to the blood of Christ and acquires the quality of Eucharist.

Vineyard, regarded as the Tree and the eternal symbol of life, is associated epithet to Saint Mary and it is based on the following: figuratively, vine is the source of wine; at the same time, wine is the sacrament liquid that equals to the blood of Christ, St. Mary is the mother of Christ and Christ himself grants the eternal life to the mankind. All the mentioned creates the mystic groundwork that is further worshiped in the hymn “You are the vineyard” (Gia Bagashvili).

Together with the grain crops vine has been the oldest and the most important vegetation in Georgia. Supposedly, up to 500 vine species were cultivated on the territory of our country and only 38 out of them are nowadays used in business. The culture of vine is organically encroached in Georgian spirituality, vine was depicted on the walls of monasteries and churches, on different architectural structures, and vine depiction has been the central décor of Georgian Architecture. St. Nino of Kabadokya entered Georgia with a Vine Cross and preached Christianity. Georgia is the only country where the new enlightenment (i.e. Christianity) came in the name of vine, so vine has been regarded as the most delicate creation.  Thus, vine is the main tool of faith and ideology for Georgians to relate to the rest of the world and it is reflected not only in the First Book of Bible, but also in Georgian folklore, traditions and moral: the culture of vine is the divine mission for Georgians. 

The enemies raiding Georgia used to first cut down the vine trying to fight the Georgian faith and enslave our rebellious spirit. Vine and wine are idealized in our culture, which, naturally, is clearly (obviously) manifested in the toasts dedicated to vine and wine. Wine is the “drink for Gods, heavenly nectar, an elixir of life, inspiration and energy, magical nectar of life and youth that empowers one with free will."

In ancient times the person was valued according to the vineyards he owned. Vineyard is as important to a Georgian as his history, his conscience and faith, his strength and comfort. Many a renowned poets of Georgia have dedicated number of masterpieces to admiring vine and wine.

Gogla Leonidze, a famous Georgian writer, wrote in a newspaper article in 1962 when Georgia was hosting the “Vine and Wine International Congress”: 

“Georgian vine, Georgian wine! Hardly any tourist has ever crossed Georgia without having been amazed by the grace of Georgian wine and praising and admiring it! Our vine is the ancient in the world! The vine must have been exported from Georgia to the rest of the world and the word “wine” must be a variation of Georgian “gvino” adopted by other languages in the world. Georgians believe that God created vine first of all: “Blessed the vines and gave color to grass.”  The Argonauts were the first to be stunned by the fertility of our vines. Recently, the vines were discovered that were as wide as two men would not be enough to encircle them. I myself have seen a huge gate hewed out from the vine tree! Georgian vine and Georgian man share the misfortunes throughout the centuries; they together carry the burden of history. The invaders- Turks, Khazarians, Arabs, Mongols, Persians and Udis used to cruelly cut down, burn, crush vine as the main source of our living, but magically enough the Georgian vine used to revive from the ash all over again. It is said that “Jagrckhila, Rqatsiteli (grape varieties) and a Georgian man can stand anything”. Georgian vine has certainly done so! The old people would say “Wine is the sward of a Georgian” and certainly, wine is always at hand at fun or grief events, in war and peace! Our farmers treat vines as their own offspring and even swear in the name of it.

How gorgeous are the vine blossoms lit by a bashful light!

How striking is the vineyard in buds! How marvelous is laughing at the vineyard!

Nothing compares to beautiful bunch of Rkatsiteli or Saperavi!

How pleasant looking is the vine burdened (crooked) of bunches of golden grapes! In fact, we do not have anything like vine! “Véraison has started” – proudly exclaims a handsome Georgian who has so labored and cared for the vine! And when he stands at the wine-press looking how the grape juice flows from the pipe, no wrinkles can be noticed on his face.

Vine pays off a lot! For a Georgian it is the same to kill a man and to cut down the vine! A Georgian always has wine to greet a friend or to face an enemy; he bravely confronts both life and death with wine! Get the juice of our historical land tasted, the Georgian wine acquired through a hard labor and sweating! Let the grace of our wine bless the brotherhood and the peace among nations! Let the Georgian vine always blossom under a peaceful sun!”

“Georgian Supra is a whole academy”, _ our ancestors used to claim, clearly indicating the importance of all those values that are associated with the Georgian Supra starting from Georgian cuisine including Tamada and the toasts. The fate of Georgia as a kingdom has many a times been resolved at the table during feasts, banquets and Supra (Georgian way of feasting).

“Supra has a uniting power over Georgians” (Grigol Robaqidze), which has been proved many times throughout history. During the era of Tamara and Lasha, when the “parliament” of that time called “Darbazi” used to give oath it was further supported by a glass of wine at the Supra. There is a proposition that traditions of Supra, its hierarchy, the time-limit in speech all are directly related to the roots of Georgian political traditions.

Our Supra traditions are indivisible part of Georgian civilization and as a complex social experience, it was born many centuries ago, has been developing, polishing throughout centuries, has been communicated from generation to generation and has reached till today as kind of a “set game rules”.

Georgian Supra is a kind of Mysteries, a ritual that has a well-formulated plot, has its director and even the roles are assigned with all the members of the Supra, being a guest or a host having their own functions. It is worth mentioning that just like the richest Georgian folklore the tradition of Georgian Supra is also dynamic being constantly changeable and developing. It is public, collective, improvised. Just like a theatrical performance, it is staged by Tamada and his assistant having the leadings like bride and groom or a birthday person and its technical staff of people serving the Supra.

Georgian Supra in its real essence is more a spiritually enriching gathering rather than a delight of flesh, where people meet with the need of spiritual sharing. Thus, a real Supra will never turn into an orgy, where the harmony among the guests is annulled, no one listens to each other and values each others’ stories, where words and feelings withdraw and the physical instincts dominate.

The most fundamental that is a common base for all Supra gatherings is that the guest is “Sent by God” as well as the host is utterly respected. A Georgian only attends those Supras, where he respects the host and all the people present there were they familiar or unfamiliar to him.

It is a common knowledge that Georgian Supra is the union of three vital components: good wine, great Tamada and dancing and singing (a creative part of Supra). A good wine is prestigious for the host and is his prerogative emphasizing his taste.  A great Tamada is a “Supreme Commander” of the Supra defining the strategy and tactics.

The unique and prominent feature of a Georgian Supra is Tamada. Tamada is appointed by the host at any Supra were it for fun or for grief. Tamada is the leader of the Supra. Sometimes the host himself decides to be a Tamada that means he respects his guests too much to entrust anyone the hard and prestigious function of Tamada. Tamada should be equally good at drinking wine and giving eloquent speeches; he is supposed to have a good sense of humor, be able to sing and dance, love poetry. Tamada is usually an intellectual, sociable personality, he is expected to be well aware of the motivation of gathering and know the guests, should have a good authority among the people present because of his good personality. A good Tamada never gets himself drunk though may force others to drink a lot. Traditionally, it has always been shameful not only for Tamada, but also for the regular guests to get over-drunk during a Supra. Those who consumed too much wine were subject to harsh remarks.

The main instrument for the Tamada during leading a Supra is the good number of toasts, their diverse contents, the right sequence and the alteration in temps. At the same time the well formulated toast is well supported by the timely chosen poems and songs that continue the topic of the toast or prepare you for the next topic to be covered in the toast. A good Tamada never says toasts by heart; he improvises every other toast at the spot observing the atmosphere at the Supra. Toasts are usually said briefly though corresponding legends, fables, myth, poems or songs usually support it.

Tamada is usually a guarantee of the discipline and order at the Supra. Tamada is himself the epitome of politeness, tolerance and patience, he has both good speaking and listening skills. It is mostly expressed with his attitude (not only in toasts said) towards the women attending the Supra and the hostess present. Georgian Supra is a wonderful way of communication and toasts are given so that only the good qualities of a person are praised and weaknesses are rarely mentioned.

Georgian Supra is very democratic, though it has Tamada as an autonomous leader. All the regular guests have right to ask a permission from Tamada to give their own toasts and at the same Tamada usually addresses “Alaverdi” to other guests that means he gives them the right to express their ideas, attitudes, emotions freely about a topic or a person concerned. It is said that Tamada used to have the right to forbid some members of Supra from drinking further toasts if he observed that they were getting over-drunk. In such cases, Tamada was requesting them to drink one after every two toasts or so, take a small break and later to go on feasting with the same speed. When a Tamada is really a good one, then drinking is only a second priority on the Supra and people sing, dance, say poems and have enormous fun, in this case Georgian Supra gets really exhilarating and remarkable.

Georgian Supra is often referred to as mysteries and the toasts - as kind of prayers, blessings proposed by Tamada and other table-mates. These toasts can be, conditionally, divided into several categories: praise to God, toasts to the cause of the gathering, toasts to the table-attendees, fundamental and free toasts. Usually it is Tamada who decides the thematic of the toasts as well as their sequence, though there is a traditionally worked out scheme that Tamadas usually follow.

Georgian Supra starts and ends with the praise to God and sacred icons. God and the family guardian angel are the whole world for a Georgian, the main cornerstone of the strength of the country and its creation.

Here follows an emotive story: “Foot-prints of two men are visible on wet sand at the coast….

-Whose foot-print is this, my Lord?

-This is the life path of yours, my son!..

-and whose is the second foot-print then?

- the second foot-print is mine, since I have been next to you throughout your life.

-But, my Lord, looks like you have still abandoned me at some points; look, there are lonely foot-prints now and then….

 -You are mistaken, my son! The lonely foot-prints are mine.. I was carrying you in my arms at the worst moments of your life!...”

So, let us make a toast to God, our Father; let us praise the One, who always protects us and evaluates our deeds; never abandons a man, tutors him in the purpose of existence and eases his torture during the worst perils.

The first toast that is associated to faith is usually short and laconic. It sounds like a plea: “Praise to the God Almighty, Peace all over the world and virtue over the mankind”. This is somehow similar to the Toast to Peace common in Guria, though the latter belongs to a later period. In the very beginning of Supra, it is usual to pray as well: “Respect to the Holy Trinity; Lord have mercy (3 times)! Heavenly Father, bless us!” followed by “Our Father in Heaven”. This is usually accompanied by a toast to Faith and religious conviction as the saviors of Georgians as well as the toast to the Catholicons-Patriarch Ilia II, to graces of different churches and icons that are proposed in a different way at different Supras.

Most popular toast is the one to the grace of St. George, which is proposed in the following way: “May 365 St. George bless and protect us”. The source of it is the chronicle about St. George’s body being dissected into 365 pieces and dispersed throughout the world as a shrine. St. George was a nobleman from Kabadokya, being in service with the Roman Emperor. He is one of the most honored Saints in the Orthodox world being regarded as the patron Saint of England, Ethiopia, Georgia and the city of Moscow. Saint George has been worshiped in Georgia since long ago being the patron of farmers, vine and other cultivated vegetations. Foreigners used to refer to Georgia as “Georgika”; “geo” means “land”, consequently Saint George is the patron of agriculture. Accordingly, in Georgia there are more churches built in the name of Saint George than in the name of any other Saint. 

Saint George is a deity for Georgians. In the religious understanding of Georgians the first place is given to Saint George, the second-to God, the Creator and the third to –Elias. The significance of Saint George is endorsed not only by legends and folk stories, but by an everyday reality as well.  In Georgia there are more churches built in the name of Saint George than in the name of any other Saint and the same is true about the related holy festivities.  There is even a blessing that sounds like: “May 365 St. George help you”.  St. George is the especially strong cult in the mountainous parts of Georgia where he equals to the God.

A wise man summoned his son before his death and told him: “I feel I will expire and will leave you soon. I want to give you an advice; ask me whatever you wish to!”

-Teach me how to make out a person, - asked the son.

-If you want to make out a person, inquire about his parents, because a tree is identified by its yield! _ Father shortly replied to him. “

Truly enough, the child is the reflection of parents’ soul and flesh, the heir of their genes and breed; thus, if there is anything noble and valuable in us all derives from our parents; their blood flows in our veins and through their eyes we get to know the universe in all its diversity. Our parents are not only genetically ancestors of ours, but the spiritual tutors and mentors as well, the indelible parts of our souls. For the Georgian, mother and father are priceless, sacred phenomenon without an analogue in nature. A Georgian is happy before he is referred to as a son, once he loses any of the parents, he calls himself an orphan and when he loses both he calls himself isolated to signify his personal status in the world.

Long live our parents! May they be healthy and may we be called children as long as it can be… Long live our parents – the couple that gave life to us!

A young man came to the Wiseman and asked for an advice: “Teach me how to pay off my parents’ labor?”

The Wiseman smiled and replied to him: “When God created mankind, the primary mission among others was reproduction and therefore, imposed the most essential function of life extension. Our life continues into our children in the world and when children are praiseworthy successors of their parents, and then parents are happy and truthful before God. Like you, many people think that only parents happen to serve their kids and only they labor for them not noticing how they change with the birth of their kids, how much grace and happiness they are exposed to when God blesses them with brood, how much strength and zeal for life, motivation and positive energy it gives them, how many ordeals, sinful deeds and thoughts it avoids the parents when they care for and think about their children; and no one knows what we would have been if our children had not been born …Go and be the praiseworthy son to your parents and their labor over you will be paid off!”

Long live our children, our future, the extension of our lives in this world, the senses of our lives and its justifications!

Georgians have always had a distinguished approach towards the next world and they addressed to death with an informal “you” stating that the life is valuable only because there is a death nearby. The more spiritual culture the society has, the more “peaceful”, “beautiful” the death looks with them. In old Georgian pagan traditions death was depicted as a handsome fair-haired guy.

A wise and witty astrologer served with a weird king in some kingdom. One day the king decided to find a fault with him, summoned him and asked: “If you will not be able to tell me what the stars say about which is my worst fear, I will order you to be be-headed.”

The astrologer looked up the sky and replied: “you are afraid of death, your Majesty, since all the fears lead us to the fear of death!..” and told him an old story: “At one feast they gave a toast to death and asked him to once come so as to drink and talk with them and enjoy so as to forget about taking anyone’s life away...In fact, at night, when the moonlight lit the setting, out of the blue a stranger stepped on the path, he came close to the bonfire and asked for a shelter. The stranger turned out to be a handsome guy and everyone understood who he was in reality. They asked him to the table and offered him some food: “Hey, Death drink with us some wine and propose a toast”… The guy smiled, took the offer and gave a toast to life. An idea came to one of the table-mates: “death is so vulnerable right now, that if I will kill it now, no one will ever die on earth and we will enjoy eternal life”. With this thought he took a dagger out and battered it in his heart. The guy fell on the ground all in blood and muttered: “Only once I came to you in peace and you killed me”…

Death is dreadful and cruel only because we have made it like this, so we always have to remember that death or passing away does not mean complete disappearance, but shifting from one form to another in time and space and extension of life in another, spiritual dimensions! Death is an unruffled sleep whilst the life is a restless sleep. 

Let us always remember the people who are looking down at us from the Heavenly Georgia, share our sorrows and happiness and pray for our sinful souls to God. They loved life but we cannot change the life regulations and thus, they are not with us today. Immense is the pain and thirst for them, but life has its own rules: I do believe that now, there in heavenly Georgia one big table is laid and they, our missed souls bond their toasts with our inmost. 

 Let us remember and never forget our deceased ones, stand up and honor their bright souls with a minute of silence.

The Death passed and came to a peasant: “Get ready, you should come with me!” The peasant pleaded: “I am building a house, will have finished it by spring, will move my family there and then take me!” The death went on its way and in spring came back to him: “So you have built the house. Are you ready to come with me?” The peasant begged again: “I have sewn corn and maze, have cared for the vine, will harvest in autumn. How I can escape you? Give me time till autumn and then I will come along with you”. Again Death left him and in autumn knocked at his door: “Get ready and come with me”. The peasant requested again: “My son got married and I am waiting for a grandson. I do not want to die without seeing him first. Give me another 9 months, please…” Death granted him another 9 months and when the baby was born, visited the man again: “so what can you tell me now? Get ready and come across”… The peasant looked him up and said: “Is not it unfair to take my life away now when I have a house, food and drink, I am a grandpa and feel the happiest?!”

The Death got astonished: “Is life really so sweet and precious that people find it so hard to get separated from it?!” He left the peasant and went away…

A man is once born and once passes away, the whole life he labors, works hard, suffers and still does anything the life on earth to be continued eternally.

Long live the Life, this precious gift of God that the God himself takes away and we humans are born with the gift of loving life that enables us to survive any ordeal, to overcome any obstacle to let us grasp the secret of birth of mankind!

In one Kingdom, the king famous for his justice and gentleness got old and decided to grant the throne to his son. He summoned the viziers and stated: “I feel I am old and it is high time to have the throne granted to my son. But before he is a king, I would like each of you to give him a piece of prudent advice”. The prince was invited. 

The first Vizier thought a little and said:

“The demolished fireplace is still functional if the smoke comes out in a right way! Before making a decision, first think about the consequences!”

The second Vizier advised: “Remember, Prince, always prefer the morning breakfast over the wife’s dowry! Once you are a king try to always be the first to wake up in the morning, otherwise you will be easily cheated!”

The third Vizier added: “God gives us parents and relatives, however, we choose friends for ourselves… Remember that there are three types of friends: one for the bread, other for the tongue and the third for the soul. For the friend of the bread give some bread first and then kick him away, the sorrows of the friend of the tongue you can cure with your kind words, but if you happen to meet a friend of soul, give him yours in return of his soul.”

Long live the virtue of friendship_ the gift of sharing joy and sorrow, being together in happiness and misery, the commitment and devotion, the feeling being as unlimited as love.  No animosity can flourish there where it is, no serfs are there where it dominates; the paradise thrives where it rules!

Long live the Friendship _ the most inspiring and unconditional sense of human relations!

Before his death a Wiseman summoned his pupils and told them an old legend: a long time ago the Lord decided to distribute the land among the nations and summoned the habitants of the earth…you could see anyone here: cheerful French and melancholic Scandinavians, hard-working Chinese and lively Italians, proud Spaniards and curious Japanese, fun-loving Russians and life-thirsty Indians, romantic Greeks and tightfisted Armenians.. Everyone was there but the Georgians…and only after the Lord completed the distribution the Georgians arrived…it was too late, though…God had not even a tiny part of the land left for allotment. Regretful Georgians just stood in the corner. The Lord asked the reason for the late arrival and the response surprised Him. The Georgians said truthfully: We were sitting drinking the Toast to God and we got delayed….The God was so impressed with the truthful and witty response that He gifted them the tiny garden of Eden kept for himself adding: “Take care of it and protect it for praising me”..

Thus, a Georgian will never eat and drink without praising the God followed by the toast to the godly gift-Georgia: Long live our country, as unique as the God himself; long live Georgia – the holy share of St. Mary protected by the grace of St. George!.. The homeland and the God are matchless in this world.

A merchant Al-Ibn-Saruq-Faraji reached the east gate of Georgia with his luxurious caravan of camels and stopped for a break there where Alazani and Iori merge. Nearby the sheep flock was gazing attended by the shepherds. “Guest is sent by God”, _the shepherds said and invited the stranger to the supper. They laid a generous table: Guda Cheese, ragout and barbeque was more than enough. After the supper, the merchant looked around and saw the vast Alazani Valley at the foot of snowy Caucasus Mountains and could not help expressing his surprise seeing these natural contrasts. The shepherds felt proud and told him an old legend: “Once the land of Kakheti was covered with the sea. By that time St. George of Bochorma had had one bull which used to get lost from time to time and once back had his horns always stained with blood…The bulls used to fight the monster emerging from the sea at the coast. The bull was trying to fight the monster but was unable to harm its skin. Then the slaves of St. George placed diamonds on the bull’s horns. Again left the bull for the coast and this time the diamonds cut the skin of the monster which retreated back to the sea frightened. The monster was incapable to hold himself and clashed against the hill right here where Alazani and Iori converge and leveled the hill. The sea withdrew and the vast Alazani Valley was visible, people came down to valley to settle where they are living now”.

Long live Kakheti, which survived the worst periods of history and stayed inseparable with the rest of Georgia and kept the faith. Many a times was Kakheti invaded, but was unable to enslave and hunt this region. Kakheti, the barn and wine cellar of Georgia, the cradle of heroes, even today guards the peace and unity of Georgia. 

Let Kakheti flourish and rejoice, the true face of which is the open and powerful “Kakhetian Mravaljamieri” glorifying our nation!

A French traveler, esoteric, poet and artist Nicola De Buranje from La Rochelle accompanied his cousin Count Jacques La Vulamie, an individual interested in Caucasus and agreed to be his chronicler. At the same time, this young Count was a fun loving man and his old parents were afraid that lots of human weaknesses and Georgian wine may have exposed him to danger and would deprive them the chance to see their sole heir again. I wish all your dreams to come true as much as Vulamie’s parent’s assumptions came true: at one stop, the drunken travelers were attacked by the robbers and abducted by them. But so great was the desire for freedom, that Jacques and Nicola bribed the ferryman and fled. They walked for thirty days and nights without interruption, used to hide in forests not to be found by anybody. Eventually, exhausted of starvation and thirst sheltered themselves in a hut next to the forest. The distant church bell chime attracted their attention and they realized they were among Christians, but they were so warn out, they fell asleep right on the stone floor. When they re-gained conscious, they saw a tall man with gray beard in a black cassock was watching them wearing a big gold-plated cross around his neck. Thus, Jacques and Nicola happened to reach the Monastery of Sapara, where the monks sheltered them and shared food with them. The French never even thought to further follow the track of Alexander Dumas, surrendered to their fate and took the virtue of the Sapara Monastery monks for the gift of God. Together with the monks they passed through the whole Georgia and witnessed the miracle that the Georgian calls the grace of Supra and never drinks or eats without giving toasts. If there had been no monks of Sapara Monastery, God knows what fate the French would have shared.

As a result, the grateful Nicola collected the Georgian toasts, added few of his sketches and once back to his homeland made up a small book, on page thirty-seven of which, one can read: “Long live the human who will assist the needy/vulnerable and share his food with him, show him the warmth of the heart and give him back the lost hope, will ease his sorrow and cure his soul!”

“With this horn and wholesome Georgian heart I would like to propose a toast to you and wish you to live as long as the wine is pressed in winepress and pitcher in Kakheti, the earth wears thin so that it is unable to carry the weight of mankind, the water dries and earth burns without it! Be as joyful as the earth rejoiced by the colorful rainbow!

Let your name be always mentioned like the sun rays will always shine the earth! Let your enemy drain of blood as much as I will empty this horn now! Long live and enjoy!” (George Leonidze “Gvindjua”)

Before his death, a master summoned his apprentice and asked:

-I have done everything to pass out all my knowledge to you and is there still anything that I did not manage to teach you?

The apprentice thought a while and answered:

-Dear master, you have taught everything to me but one: how to myself become a master. I think I already know enough to myself be referred as master!...

The master smiled and said:

-Before I am alive you will be always referred as apprentice and when I will pass away and you will have your own apprentices, you will also be called a master…But remember: never try to be wise neither next to the master nor the ignorant…try to learn the most from the first one and teach only that much that you have been taught to the latter..Till then you have yourself to learn much more to realize how little you know!...

Long live our tutors, our teachers and mentors who teach us, guide us, show the right direction and lit our way like candles with their knowledge and experience. They warm us up, share their wisdom with us and through their existence empower us with self-confidence and strength!

By the end of 17th century, Italian missionary Jacomo Vegino inspired by the traveling records of his predecessor Archbishop Arcangelo Lambert, was travelling in Caucasus and happened to know (lot) many astounding and extraordinary stories. Though, the most impressive for him appeared the story about the Georgian Amazons. Once back to his homeland, he portrayed everything in great details in his diary attached with few sketches.  His traveling impressions turned out a bestseller in the Europe of that time and won fame to the author. Among the stories, most attention-grabbing was the story about the Queen of Amazons, Mirdaqati with her tragic love story accompanied by the portrait of a stunning Queen and a Latin inscription: “Only then I exist when I am in love”…

A French seafarer, Paul De Jardiniène was captured by the Kolkh Amazons and imprisoned in a pit together with other male hostages. As a rule, the hostages were used for reproduction and they were killed afterwards. If a boy was born he was killed and if a girl –she was raised likewise an Amazon. The period of captivity was very tough, but the French sailor was fascinated by the beauty of women of unknown tribe being far more free-loving than the women of Europe. After meeting the Queen Mirdaqati, Jardiniène fell deeply in love with her and after nine months the fatal fruit of their love, the twins, a boy and a girl, were born: an amazing daughter Tukhtaruti and a gorgeous boy Bashrazuti. The newborn girl was traditionally accepted with great honor, while Paul and his son were destined to an inevitable death.  The enamored Queen violated the traditions of her tribe and helped Paul and the baby-boy to escape at night. But, alas, the other hostages betrayed the Queen. The proud Amazons did not forgive the Queen her behavior, captured her and sentenced her to death. When the queen was tied on the tale of the horse, her last words were the same that Jacomo Vegino inscribed next to her miniature: “Only then I exist when I am in love”…

Long live the Love that gave the strength to Amazon Queen to sacrifice herself!....

Long live the woman that can keep loyal to traditions like the Amazons did!...

And long live the Love against which all the traditions fade!

When the sky is so clear and the air is so fresh that one can count the stars on the blue, when the huge moon is hanging on the branch like a balloon, a stunning snow-white swan swims to the shore accompanied by a flock of fire-flies. At the same time, a deer comes out from the dark forest and their beauty is reflected in the lake shining like a mirror at the moon-light. They say, the swan once was an amazing lady and the deer a handsome guy. Their heavenly love blinded the envious Evil Spirit of Forest and at the day of wedding when the couple stood at the thresholds of the church, she enchanted them and turned them into a deer and a swan. From then on, this two creations meat every night and implore to God for the protection of every beloved couple on earth.

Our beautiful bride looking so much like a swan and the handsome groom looking as a deer staring at each other in love, are united today in the will of God to give birth to another life. Let us pray to God for their happiness and the solidity of their family. Let God save them from hardship, revelry, envy, evil and all the malady of human nature!

It is said that the fate of a couple is fixed in heavens.  Lead your life with love, kindness and mutual respect! Our marvelous couple_ replicate as the sand in the sea and the stars in the sky! Let you grow old together as the sun and the moon.

Rejoice and be happy!

Farukh, the king of Kolkh had a group of beautiful Amazons as personal safeguards. Especially selected young ladies renowned for their beauty and armed with bows used to accompany the young king everywhere, were it a war or haunting. The Amazons were all beautiful and brave, but the king fell in love with one of them, Naishubi. Because of the religious difference and the royal duties were the barriers of marriage, the lovers used to meet in secrecy.

Once, during a campaign to India, Farukh fell down from the elephant and was surrounded by the enraged crowd of enemies. Naishubi recklessly flew to help him, but the army elephants crashed the couple so as the enemies were unable to capture them. When the Amazons came on rescue and broke through the circle of crowds, they witnessed a horrific scene: the hugged couple was frozen. The Amazons tried to separate them, but the couple was stoned like a lifeless statue of love. The army of Kolkh mourned the couple for 40 days and nights and afterwards buried them with honor into a royal grave unlike Indians who send the dead bodies away with the waves of Gang. Everyone decided that Naishubi performed the guard duty with poise and no one has uncovered the secret of their love. Later, the Indians dedicated a song to them “Shiva without Shaqti is a Shava” meaning “A man without a woman is a breathing corpse”.

Long live the women for our lives are senseless without them!

A young apprentice decided to get married and went to his master for an advice: “dear master, I will never forget your labor to teach me the craft and the alphabet of life, but I have made up my mind to get married and could you advise me how to choose a wife?”….. Master smiled and told him an old Eastern story: “When God created all the creatures on earth, he forgot about woman. The man was the first to notice it and complained. The God thought a while from what to create a woman since all his efforts had been utilized on creation of man, though He did not refuse the man and started creating a woman: He took the bunch of sun rays, the melancholy of the moon, quiver of she-deer, the tender gaze of roe, the beauty of a swan, solemnity of the peacock, the voice of nightingale, innocence of a doe, the body of the reed, the fragrance of a rose, the sweetness of a honey, the attraction of a magnet, the purity of a spring-water and the lightness of the air. He mixed the mentioned but in order it to be less wholesome, He added some other features: the cunning of a fox, the poison of a snake, the greediness of a shark, the anger of a tiger, the talkativeness of a magpie, the tears of a cloud, the changeability of a wind, the fear of a rabbit and thus, created a wonderful woman. The God handed her to man and said: “take good care of her; I will not be able to create anything better!”

-But master, what does this story mean?-the apprentice got no clue.

-It means a woman can either crown you or destroy you!

Long live our wives, the unique creations of God, the origins of our lives, our sorrows and joys, bitterness and sweetness, roses and thorns of ours, the always unpaid debts of a man!

An artist served with a king in some kingdom. The king had a beautiful, but intractable and willful daughter, whose arrogance was the subject of legends.  Many young men sacrificed themselves to propose her for marriage, but she rejected them all. One day the king ordered the artist to paint a portrait of his daughter.  The artist used to paint her for hours and when he finished the portrait, he realized he had fallen in love with her. And a real wonder occurred: the king looked at the portrait and instead of an arrogant and icy look of her daughter, he saw an affectionate, lovely young woman in love gazing at him from the picture. What was even more startling, the princess herself looked like a mirror copy of her portrait.

King was so happy with the positive transformation of his daughter that he approved the marriage of the artist and princess and when the surprised Viziers asked the reason of his decision, the king replied: the phenomenon of art!

Long live the Art, incredible and unique phenomenon that ennobles, revamps and enriches an individual, shows him his fault and potency and assists him in self-improvement! Long live the art!

Two shepherds came across an eagle’s nest on the rock. Two small baby-eagles were waiting for their mom with open beaks. One shepherd decided to steal them, but the other resisted and said: “leave them, they are God’s creations also, they have a mother and they will grieve for her!” Apparently, nearby the eagle was hidden and she heard everything, then made a lap above them and flew so close to the one who was trying to steal the baby-eagles that almost took away his Papakhi (a special wool head-wear for shepherds in Mountainous Georgia). Towards the other shepherd she flew in a gentle way as if showing that she was not intending to harm him and descended in her nest with open wings. The shepherds looked at the mother and her babies a while and left in a hurry as the weather was worsening.

After some time, in summer the shepherds went back to mountains to look after their households. One shepherd took his sheep out at the slope of the mountain and he lay down on hey rick. He fell asleep and did not notice how a huge black snake crept to attack him. As soon as the snake was about to sting him, big dark shadow covered the two and a gigantic eagle suddenly whirled away the snake, took it high up in the air and only after she was hardly visible on the blue, slackened her claws and beak and the snake crashed against the rock to death. The eagle made a few laps in the sky above the startled shepherd and flew beyond the mountains. All of a sudden, the shepherd recognized the mother eagle in this gigantic bird and realized that the eagle paid him off for his humanity.

Humanity is a great virtue, our ancestors used to say “the white candle is still burning, the white candle is always burning and its quiet burning is ascension.” Let the candle of humanity lit the dark labyrinth of life forever….Long live the virtue of humanity and kindness!

According to old Georgian legend, in the times immemorial when the God lived on the earth among the men, He decided to make the life of exhausted and expelled from paradise man, more appealing and cheerful.  After thinking a little, He made up his mind to create a drink that would take the man back to paradise at least for a while. Thus, created God the vine and made wine of its fruits that everyone liked. (Giorgi Iremashvili, Tianeti Municipality); since the wine got a total approval, God started looking for a place on the earth for its proper cultivation. God looked for it everywhere and later found a place that looked like paradise and this was Georgia.

When God cultivated vine on this land, harvested it, pressed and made wine, He found that it had all the divine qualities that would have thrilled the man and unlocked the blocked gates of paradise for him… This ancient and naïve legend clearly shows the Georgian origin of vine and wine and about the unique qualities the wine has in general to ennoble a man and uncover the hidden passions of his soul. Vine is the soul, flesh, faith and subject of eternal admiration for a Georgian!

“Who knows maybe the vine itself is the homeland? Just observe: if vine is small, you pick grapes on your knees and if it is higher, you happen to pick grapes with your hands raised above. In both cases it looks like praying. And prayer is most suitable for the homeland.” (N. Dumbadze).

““I believe so that if there had been no vine, there would have been no Georgia either. If anything holds Georgia, first of all this is the wine. You drink when you cry or laugh, you drink during the day and at night. The wine unites and separates, the wine covers the sorrows and uncovers the gifts of acting, wine brings relief to a strong man and assists him to manage his thoughts.

The biggest wonder in Georgia is the fragrance coming out of the pitchers. Nothing is better, more genuine, older and eternally young than this with us. Wine is immortal and no one can reject it. Wine is everlasting and the whole world can be discovered in it”. (Aka Morchiladze).

Let us adore the godly gift- vine and the heavenly chrism of it _the Georgian wine!

Here is another myth: “Everyone has heard the legend about the chained on Caucasus, Amirani (same as Prometheus) punished by Gods. This myth has few different interpretations among which the Svani version is very interesting. It says that God chained Amiran (Prometheus) on the Mount Churi (Pitcher) in Svaneti. This Mountain looked like a huge pitcher full of wine and Amiran was fed with this wine for centuries. The legend of Mount Churi is very thought-provoking endorsing the assumption that the technology of wine-making is the oldest in Georgia”. (Giorgi Malkhazishvili). 

A peasant came to a Wiseman and asked: “Could you tell me when I will get a rest?” The Wiseman thought a while and replied: “when you will get old at your own place then you will get a rest”….The peasant looked surprised: :”How is it?”-“You will exactly know it in autumn”-the Wiseman said. The amazed peasant left without comprehending the meaning of his words.

Throughout the year the peasant sweated over his land and was praying to God for the favorable weather to not spoil the crops. He had a brilliant cornfield; the trees were burdened with fruits in orchards, the vine crooked under the weight of grapes and the amber-colored bunches glittered in the sun… The peasant was happy seeing that his labor was paying off and the yield looked exemplary. But man was planning, the God laughing; unpredictable hailstorm completely destroyed the yield and left the man in despair. There was only one way out of starvation: he sold his house and plots and moved to godmother with the whole family. Then he understood what the Wiseman meant about “when you will get old at your own place then you will get a rest”..But, alas, it was too late.

Generally, Georgians are very hospitable, but even happier hosts are they once the yield is harvested: the barn is full of grain and the grapes are pressed, wine is made and “Mravaljamier” is sung in the cellar. Labor has always been inseparable with Georgians, honest work ennobles them and makes them proud and comfortable.

Labor has been the source of happiness and joy for a Georgian and the fortune amassed through the hard work has been generously spent in hospitality. So, let us drink for our harvest, abundance rejoicing us that enables us to get old at our own place and is the ray of hope for the young! Let us drink for the merciful nature _ the source and guard of our wealth!

Long live a laborer, his toil and harvested yield!

A big feast was given at a family, that lasted till the morning, lot many toasts were proposed and both host and guests enjoyed a lot. The guests stayed at the family for an overnight and in the morning a wonderful view was waiting for them:  it snowed at night and everything was snow-white around. Every guest was deep asleep, though tiny footprints were visible on the snow. The surprised host thought to himself: no one left and no one entered the house for sure…and only then he realized that they forgot to salute the Angel of Foundation and he left the house offended in the early morning.

This smart story is the fruit of imagination, but it emphasizes the importance of the Angel of Foundation for Georgians and at the same time guides us to never forget to pay thanks to the good guard of our house, that saves our place from evil and wrong.

Georgian literature is loaded with poetry and prose related to Georgian vine, cellar, Supra and Tamada institute, where it is creatively described the importance of these phenomena for Georgians.