It
was my first peek at a marani (Georgian wine cellar) where Shota's
family produces its own wine with grapes plucked from the vines
hanging over the courtyard. It was also my first taste of
Gerogian chacha,
the local firewater. Stored in large glass jugs containing sticks of
oak to add color and flavor it tastes, at least to me, like some sort
of twisted combination of vodka and tequila. Yummy nummy. Not quite.
In the immortal words of Ralph
Wiggum, it "tastes like burning!"
Shota,
being the host and designated tamada (toastmaster), raised glass
after glass of wine to Georgia, to his loving family, to his new
friends, and to everyone's continued happiness. Such toasts are an
inextricable part of Georgian society and a phenomenon of which I am
quite fond.
