We had high hopes for Bolnisi, a town an hour’s drive from Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. It’s a famous wine region with a PDO (protected designation of origin).
We had it pegged as the Martinborough of Georgia. The place Tbilisians escape to for the weekend with boutique lodgings, vineyards with gorgeous outdoor settings and wonderful food. Cafes with great coffee and exquisite cakes. You know, like Martinborough.
Alas, we had it so very wrong.
But let’s back up the truck and tell you a little about the area because it has an interesting history.
The greater Bolnisi area dates back millennia to the Stone Age when the first hominins roamed the land. In nearby Dmanisi two skulls were discovered which provide unequivocal evidence for the earliest presence of early humans outside of Africa.
Fast forward to 1818 when 95 German families from Swabia settled in what they named Yakaterinenfeld, and nearby Asureti was named Elisabethal. It was these settlers who brought their wine traditions to the region using local grape varieties.
Sadly, in 1941 under Stalin all German residents who were not married to ethnic Georgians were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan. However, there is still the odd, elderly local with a smattering of German.
Now back to our story.
Our first stop was Asureti/Elisabethal where we walked the main road lined with quaint dilapidated, Germanic buildings and residences, many still inhabited. At the end of the street stands an imposing protestant Lutheran church from 1871. Cool.
We pop back into the car and continue on to Bolnisi, a bigger town of 8500 people. Our driver drops us off at our hotel, The Deutsche Muehle, formerly a mill house. It’s here we start to get an inkling something isn’t quite right. The key is in the front door and all the lights are off. We snoop about till we find someone to check us in.
We are then straight back out to book ourselves into one of the many vineyards for dinner and to find some lunch. The first vineyard is shut up tight. We phone and leave a message. On our way to the main street we pass other wineries, also closed.
Right then, let’s focus on lunch because it’s now 2pm. We walk along the main street where we find several bread shops, vegetable stalls and convenience stores.
We pass a hole-in-the-wall kebab joint and a cruddy burger bar. No thanks.
Google maps shows two restaurants at the end of the main drag. We march there feeling ravenous. One is a sterile-looking khinkali dumpling house and as we contemplate going in our friend Baia runs out waving at us.
She is also in Bolnisi for the wine festival and is staying at a guest house. She says she’s the only guest. We are starting to suspect we too are the only people at our hotel.
We order khinkali and luckily they are very good. We ask Baia about the other local restaurant and she grimaces. She ate there the previous week and was not impressed. There was no written menu, the waitress just rattled off five available dishes and when it came to paying Baia felt they made up the price based on whether you were local, Georgian or foreign. On top of that the food wasn’t great.
Baia was also looking for somewhere for dinner so we join forces to find what’s available. We pass by a well-known vineyard, also closed. Baia calls and no answer. This feels ominous.
We walk to the Georgian-German wine centre passing by a series of 1980s Soviet mosaics. The centre is actually open and they confirm our fears. There will be no dinner for us. The vineyards that do provide tastings and meals require bookings well in advance. None accept walk-ins.
Plan B. We buy wine at the centre then stomp back to the main street where we buy tomatoes, cheese and ham. We go to a bread shop and grab warm loaves of shoti bread. An old fella at the shop wants to know where we are from. They don’t see many (or any) Kiwis here and they won’t take our money.
Heading back to the hotel an ancient woman is leaning over her first floor balcony. She waves out and starts talking to us in German. Finally, Janice’s 40 year-old German is of use. The old lady says her mother had been born in the house and German was her first language. She is delighted we stopped to chat.
Back at the hotel the place is deserted. We crack open a beer and sit on the balcony over-looking the river. It’s very peaceful. We watch cows being herded home after a day grazing the river bank.
We spot a man in the hotel garden, he’s the caretaker. We tell him we are going to take over the hotel’s kitchen to prepare our picnic dinner. He kindly leads us in and finds the light switches. We dine in style on the hotel’s restaurant terrace, the place is ours.
We sleep well and look forward to the promised breakfast. It’s the usual fare of yoghurt with jam, boiled eggs and boiled sausages, salad and bread. We are ready for coffee but it’s instant. That’s a hard no from two former café owners.
Another Google search confirms there is no real coffee to be had in Bolnisi. It’s going to be a long day.
The wine festival attracted wineries from across the country but we choose to focus on the Bolnisi region. Whites include Rkatseteli, Aligote and Riesling, some are qvevri-made while others use oak, there doesn’t seem to be as much skin contact as Kakheti wines. The lighter wines would be perfect for a summer lunch. Red varieties include Saperavi, Tavkveri and Shavkapito. But the wine we are most interested in is Asuretuli Shavi, a “black” grape from Asureti. It’s wonderful and we are quick converts to this variety.
We are astounded that for festival goers the generous wine tastings are free. Wine-makers are delighted to talk about their wines and offer snacks of dried fruits, nuts and cheese to complement them.
To be honest we started out feeling a tad disappointed in Bolnisi but that was our mistake. It is a fascinating, rural town with an intriguing history, that has quietly been producing excellent wine for centuries. The people we encountered were super friendly, and while they haven’t latched on to wine tourism yet, what you do find is an unspoilt town offering an authentic experience of daily life in Georgia.
Thank you to Baia @redfedoradiary for the use of her photos, including the opening shot of the festival
what do you think?