Join Shalva Khetsuriani, winemaker and President of the Georgian Sommelier Association, to explore 8,000 years of continuous winemaking in Georgia, the recognized birthplace of wine.
Event details
This free one hour Explorer session will showcase the Qvevri and Churi — traditional clay vessels at the heart of Georgia’s unique winemaking tradition. Shalva will take attendees on a journey to discover ancient wine artifacts, 525 indigenous grape varieties, and the cultural significance of wine, from the Tamada tradition to UNESCO’s recognition of the Qvevri winemaking method. Learn how this ancient craft continues to shape Georgia’s identity and inspire the global wine world.
This session is open to all and is suitable for wine enthusiasts, industry professionals, and those curious about Georgian wine culture.
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This event does not necessarily constitute official WSET course material and should not be used as such.
Speaker
Shalva Khetsuriani - Winemaker and President of the Georgian Sommelier Association
Shalva is the CEO of Khetsuriani Winery and Director of Riedel Georgia. Shalva’s family were successful winemakers, but during the country’s communist period the family winery was appropriated by the government. Imbued with his grandmother’s family stories, a quarter of a century ago Shalva began rebuilding his family winery.
He would go on to found the first sommelier school in Georgia, and was one of the drivers in setting up the Georgian Sommelier Association, now a full-member of the International Sommelier Association (ASI), as well as organising many Georgian wine master classes the world over to promote the country’s wines. These ventures are but a few of many, all demonstrating Shalva’s love for Georgian wine. Shalva recognises that the region of the Caucasus is a melting pot of “so many eno-gastronomic, ethnographic and cultural traditions”, many of which are under-represented in the wine world; it is his aim to change that.