CULTURE
GEORGIA TODAY JULY 20 - 23, 2018
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‘10 Georgian Wines You Must Try Until You Die’ Exhibition on Meidan ADVERTORIAL
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n 13 and 14 July, people gathered on ‘Meidan’ for the ‘10 Georgian Wines You Must Try Before You Die’ exhibition where specifically designed collections/tourist/ gift wines were unveiled. Wine lovers, locals and tourists united for the event, including those who already know each type of grape and its history; those who travel for the love of wine; those who are aware of each specific aroma, telling the story of the country’s history, culture and ethnography. Visitors had the opportunity to taste 10 selected wines, pick their favorite and purchase wine at special prices during the festival. A variety of cheese could be tasted along with the wine, and handmade items were exhibited for sale during the event.
Nikola, Moscow: “I am from Moscow and visited Georgia for the first time. You cannot imagine how excited I am to attend the event. I liked ‘Kvanchkara’, while my wife preferred ‘Akhasheni’. During Soviet times, when I was a student, all types of wine were unique. I hadn't been able to find such a taste since. Tasting these wines made me remember my time as a student – the true Georgian taste of wine. How can you leave the country without trying the wine?” Maria, The Netherlands: “I tasted several different wines and can tell you that my favorite was ‘Kindzmarauli’. I'd heard how great Georgian wine was and now I believe it! I'm heading home tomorrow and will take several bottles with me. This will be the perfect gift for my friends.” Dmitri, Moscow: “When I decided to visit Georgia, my friends said I should taste the Georgian wine. I really liked ‘Tsinandali’. I go to Georgian restaurants often in Moscow and drink Georgian wine. It seems that the names are the
same – ‘Saperavi’, ‘Mukuzani’ … but the taste is truly different. Irina Martsinskaia, Saint-Petersburg: “My favorite was ‘Kvanchkara’. The only thing I knew about this wine was that it was Stalin’s favorite. If I’m being honest, I also fell in love with the wine. You can rarely find Georgian wines in SaintPetersburg. I will definitely buy some.” Igor, Minsk: “All the wines are amazing, but ‘Tvishi’ is without doubt one of the best. Georgia is an incredible country, with an amazing culture, tradition and wine: truly the homeland of wine”. Olga, Krasnodar: “Georgian wine is only known as ‘Kvanchkara’ and ‘Kindzmarauli’ back home. In this ecological environment, wine produced by ancient traditions has a distinct taste. Georgian wine made our Tbilisi holiday special.” Sergei, Ukraine: “I am so relaxed here – the nature, the people, the hospitality and the wine. There is nothing more I could wish for. In my opinion, ‘Kindzmarauli’ and ‘Tvishi’ are the best.” The project ‘10 Georgian Wines You Must Try Before You Die’ is organized by Palitra Media Holding and allwine. ge. The goal is to popularize Georgian wine and make selected Georgian wine more accessible, especially to foreigners – giving them the opportunity to discover and understand that Georgia is truly the homeland of wine. The project was launched on October 15, 2017 at the Georgian Wine Festival on ‘Meidan’, where the first “blind” degustation was held. The voting process lasted four months. Interest was high and led to a massive two-day blind tasting event. Wine experts (four Georgian and one French) chose 10 of the finest wine companies during the blind tasting. The bottles are divided evenly into
two packages. Visitors at the exhibition were given the opportunity to buy these packaged wines on July 13 and 14. Anano Tavkhelidze, Project Manager: “We are happy that the public has always felt great interest towards this project. They were actively involved in the voting process in digital and print media, as well as at the blind tasting at festivals and public gatherings. The project is unique as it creates a precedence to make wine consumption global, interlink Georgian wine companies and consumers and give access to customers to buy various company products in one package, selected by wine experts. "Our team worked for several months to create the unique design and interior composition. We created an exclusive hologram that we placed on selected wines. We visited different regions of Georgia and met many interesting people to gather information and use it in our brochures. It was a long, remarkable and hard-working process. We talked to elderly winemakers, farmers and owners of cellars, for whom the recipe of their ancestors is priceless and who do not betray the ancient recipes. We gathered information less known to the public. As a result, the stories we collected, the photographs and the information
gathered about wine were printed on our brochures, which made it extra interesting. Each bottle of wine in the boxes was created within the project with its own special QR code. "We visited all the wine producers and factories, observed the technology used in wine-making and collected the stories. We gave customers the opportunity to see where each bottle of wine was created, the winemaker, the vineyard where grapes were gathered, the history and other intriguing facts. In my opinion, this allows tourists to learn more about Georgian wine and traditions." Ani Amiranashvili, ALLWINE.GE Project Manager: “Such projects are very important for promoting wine. Customers can buy ALLWINE.GE products for GEL 149 only at the following degustation points: Tbilisi: Kandelaki N.7, Chavchavadze N.7, Tbilisi International Airport; Batumi: Chavchavadze N.62; Telavi: Bakhtrioni and Saakadze Intersection. If you purchase online through www.allwine.ge, you can take advantage of the exclusive price of GEL 129, and the courrier will deliver to any address. "It's an amazing project. I would like to urge everyone to hurry up and buy their favorite wine because the number of boxes is limited”.
Virtuoso Georgian Pianist to Present VOISA at Black Sea Arena EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY LIKA CHIGLADZE
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n August 4, within the frames of the government’s ‘Check in Georgia’ program, renowned Georg i a n p i a n i s t G i o rg i Mikadze will present his ambitious project VOISA at the Black Sea Arena to a Georgian and international audience. It is an unprecedented musical project of high importance since it aims to introduce Georgia to the world and become the country’s cultural trademark. The person behind the project is a young virtuoso pianist, composer, MA graduate at Berklee Collage of Music and Manhattan School of Music, and Yamaha Jazz artist Giorgi Mikadze who has created an exceptional musical project in collaboration with his All-Star Band and ensemble Basiani. The project debuted in New York’s prestigious concert hall ShapeShifter Lab in 2016 and later in 2017 was presented to the wider audience in China’s capital Beijing, to great success. The concert celebrated the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Georgia and China as a part of events dedicated to the Independence Day of Georgia. Each piece of VOISA stands out for its distinct genre, style and theme. Within the framework of the project, Mikadze created six compositions, including “Shiola”, dedicated to the Patriarch of
Georgia, “Zezva and Mzia” dedicated to the remains of the most ancient man and woman, found in Dmanisi, Georgia, “Biba” composed on Svan motives from Georgia’s Svaneti Region, “Azmati” on the Abkhazian topic while “Natrva” (Wish) was inspired by the 850th anniversary of the 12th century Georgian author Shota Rustaveli. This year, VOISA, to be performed at Georgia’s grandiose concert hall Black Sea Arena located on the Black Sea coast, will be marking the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia. The artistic side of project is carried out by wellknown Georgian director Basa Potskhishvili. The lineup of the concert is as follows: Giorgi Mikadze – Musical Director, Ensemble “Basiani” The All-Star Band: Roni Eytan -Harmonica, Shachar Elnatan – Guitar, Antoine Katz – Bass, Dito Sakandelidze - Percussion, Fernando Saci - Percussion, Zachary Mullings – Drums, Raydar Ellis – MC. Tickets are available online at tkt.ge. GEORGIA TODAY spoke to Giorgi Mikadze about himself and the event.
TELL US ABOUT THE PATH FROM CHILDHOOD TO YOUR DREAM UNIVERSITY, BERKLEE I was born and raised in a musical family. I started playing piano at the age of 3. When discovering my musical talent, my parents had no doubt that my life and future would be directed towards music. I was educated as classical musician in Georgia; I attended 10 Classes
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nights, being competitive and feeling constant pressure that many students cannot overcome physically. Fortunately, I managed to handle all these after overcoming many obstacles and difficulties.
HOW WAS VOISA BORN AND WHAT IS ITS MISSION?
Music School in Tbilisi and then graduated from the V.Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire. Before moving to the US, I earned a number of prizes and became laureate at international festivals several times. I was a lead singer in the Kakhidze Music Center Boys Choir and was fortunate enough to acquire knowledge from amazing personalities and high level professionals. They gave me a basis that I developed and mastered when studying in the US. Berklee Collage of Music is one of the most prestigious contemporary music collages, dreamed about by many musicians, including me. Luckily, I was accepted by the college and granted 100% tuition scholarship. In 2014, when I successfully graduated from the Composition Faculty of Berklee Collage of Music, legendary Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, who was specially invited guest at the ceremony, congratulated me on the completion of studies in person. Then I continued my studies and in order to pursue
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an MA degree enrolled at New York’s Manhattan School of Music, notable for its musical traditions, where I turned out to be the only student among 3000 applicants around the world who received the scholarship for two-year studies. I then won the competition of the International Education Center and received funding to cover the living expenses. I’m extremely glad to now be a visiting professor at Berklee Collage of Music where I teach within the summer program whenever I have free time.
HOW DID YOU BECOME SO SUCCESSFUL AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE? Success is a continuous process of developing and going through various new stages, by constantly working on perfecting oneself. First of all, as a student success comes at a very high cost. This includes an extremely stressful and tense environment, fast pace of life, enormous amount of study materials, sleepless
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Generally, as musician, I love experiments. I’d been thinking about VOISA for a while, but to make it happen and to correctly approach that amazing and phenomenal Georgian folklore, I had to be professionally ready. Two years ago, after taking part in organizing many mega shows, I decided to carry out this project in collaboration with the Basiani ensemble and my All Star Band. VOISA is a multi genre project and a kind of cultural collaboration. I tried to harmonically synthesize centuries-old Georgian folk music and contemporary music such as jazz, funk, R&B, hip-hop, electronic music and micro-tonal directions. The project aimed at creating an international high-end musical product based on Georgian folklore and songs, that would become a trademark of Georgia through which the world would become acquainted with Georgia. VOISA is a transformation of traditional Georgian culture in today’s globalized era. I would love for this new musical product to be promoted on the world music market through this project. As for my future plans, apart from working and performing abroad, I have many plans related to my country, which I will unveil in detail to GEORGIA TODAY’s readers later.
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