Georgia

The Near Eastern state (Russian: Grusinia) with its capital Tbilisi lies east of the Black Sea in Transcaucasia. It is bordered by Russia to the north, Turkey and Armenia to the south and Azerbaijan to the east. The breakaway parts of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are recognised as sovereign only by Russia and a few other states. Georgia is one of the oldest wine-growing countries and is also named as the origin of the cultivated grapevine, which, however, is assumed to be in south-eastern Anatolia according to recent research (arrow). According to the Bible, Noah landed on Mount Ararat at the end of the Flood. It is said that the 5,000-year-old clay jars found near the town of Wani in Imeretia contained seeds of the Rkatsiteli vine. Grape seeds from cultivated vines as early as 7,000 years old point to the breeding of better grape varieties. Archaeology provided evidence that viticulture enjoyed great importance in the earliest times and was an integral part of Georgian culture. In the museum of the capital Tbilisi (Tiflis), there is a short piece of vine wood covered with silver that was found in Trialeti in the south and whose age was determined to be 3,000 BC. Numerous vine knives, stone stars, mills, clay and metal vessels as well as jewellery in the form of grapes and vine leaves from the period between 3000 and 2000 BC have been excavated in Mukheta, Trialeti and Pitsunda as well as in the Alazani Valley.