Ziya Khaidarov and Garage Wines in Batumi: Meet the Winemaker

Hello, dear readers. Today I'd like to introduce you to a wonderful man, Ziya Khaidarov, who runs Garage Wines. He's incredibly charismatic, charming, intelligent, interesting, and, most importantly, a living guide to winemaking in Georgia.

He'll tell us about winemaking and wine, as well as about Garage Wines itself. Ziya Khaidarov has been interested in organic products for over five years, and Garage Wines itself was founded in October 2018.

«Garage Wines»

In his grandfather's garage, converted into a wine cellar, they promote Georgian culture and wine, and sell consumer culture. Their goal is to draw attention to natural Georgian products. There's a popular trend called "slow food, slow kitchen," which encourages using locally grown ingredients in cooking, rather than frozen ones imported from other countries.

Ziya works not with wine and cheese suppliers, but directly with their producers. He wants to understand the production process itself, the very process of preparing the products. To convey to a friend that this establishment uses truly natural products, simply say that the wine here is unfiltered. This can be discerned even by the taste: the flavor is richer, much more intense, more complete, and the aftertaste is longer. The spirit is made using traditional Georgian methods.

They also explained to me that fortified wine is one to which alcohol is added to prevent spoilage. The Portuguese traveled their seas and oceans, and they had their own wine, but it began to spoil, and the only way to save it was to add alcohol. This is how port wine was born. A dry wine is one with a residual sugar content of less than 5 grams per liter.

Residual sugar is the sugar that remains after the grapes are picked due to the incomplete fermentation process carried out by yeast. The speed of this process depends on the temperature and the environment. Dry wines contain up to 5 grams of sugar, semi-dry wines from 5 to 15 grams, and semi-sweet and sweet wines more than 15 grams per liter.

You don't need a serious medical or higher education to understand that the produce growing nearby is grown without the use of industrial fertilizers, pesticides, or toxic chemicals. They are much healthier than those that grow and consume various chemicals.

The main target audience is the local population and tourists. Both categories tend to fall victim to globalization, and when they go to the store, they encounter only industrial wines, cheeses, and teas, unaware of the wonderful selection of natural products available right here.

Wine tasting, according to the man, is not an easy process. If you're planning to drink white wine, your stomach should be full, or you need to accompany it with something. This type of wine is highly acidic, and your digestive system will become a war zone if you drink it on an empty stomach. As for red and rosé wines, simply drinking water with them is enough to ensure a smooth transition from one wine to the other. White wine is best drunk during the day, red wine in the evening, and rosé can be enjoyed at any time of day.

It's common to pair wine with cheese, and cheese with wine because both are enzymatic. If you combine them correctly, you'll experience the nuances of each flavor more intensely.

Mixing different types of quality wine is highly likely to cause a headache. However, too much of one type of wine will not affect your well-being. If you're eager to try different wines, remember to switch from white or amber to red, but never the other way around. Sometimes it's okay to switch from red to amber, but only if the latter is a strong wine.

People buy good wine in the hopes of quality, and they pay a considerable amount of money for it. Buying a top-notch wine requires years of training and considerable financial investment. At Garage Wines, unlike other places, visitors are given the unique opportunity to sample all the wines available.

A natural wine can be identified by the presence of sediment. This sediment is an indicator of its fineness, but it shouldn't be more than a few centimeters. The label shouldn't describe the wine in too grandiose terms, but it should definitely include statements that the drink is made using organic production, meaning without the use of industrial fertilizers or pesticides.

Wine made in an unnatural way cannot be unfiltered. If it says it's unfiltered, it's most likely due to the use of chemicals that can be harmful to the body.

How can you tell a good wine from a wine of the same quality, but homemade from your own cellar?

For tourists from the post-Soviet space, these are homemade wines made by professionals using proper vessels and production techniques, not industrial wines. So, homemade wine is certainly cool, but you still need to make sure the person has stainless steel tankers or qvevri, which are clay vessels buried underground.

Then, they have the right to make honest alcohol and not deceive anyone. However, many make wine using plastic or enamel barrels. A drink made in such containers has no potential, as the aging process is not proper. The wine is only a name.

In very rare cases, a truly good alcoholic drink is produced in such vessels. Everything depends on the integrity of the winemaker. If the wine is made in an enamel barrel and then poured into glass bottles, where fermentation is completed, the wine can be considered quite good. However, storing such a drink in plastic makes it of very poor quality.

Building a garage

The idea kept coming to Ziya and her friends when they couldn't find the wines they wanted to try at restaurants, or when the wine turned out to be of substandard quality and expensive.

The essence of wine lies in its proper storage, serving, and consumption. You need to understand what to do, when to do it, and why. A living, natural product requires proper care. He wanted to produce a corresponding natural product in the country that is the birthplace of winemaking. That's why he decided to take the initiative into his own hands.

Programs

The garage hosts various programs, including tastings where you can try two types of wine for free, with preferences explored. Master classes on wine appreciation teach you how to appreciate, store, and enjoy wine. These programs also include cheese tastings, of which the establishment offers three types: suluguni, miruli, smoked suluguni, semi-smoked suluguni, and unsmoked suluguni. Some cheeses have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Events dedicated to Georgian traditions are also held. These events offer an unforgettable experience, a genuine feeling of being among Georgians, singing songs with them, drinking real Georgian wine, and sampling authentic dishes.

Full pricing information is available on the menu or on Instagram and Facebook. A set of five wines costs 15 lari, and a master class per person costs 25 lari. If it's a dinner party, the price will vary between 25 and 35 lari depending on the dish.

In the future, we plan to introduce programs related to the history of Georgia and its lifestyle. Trips to tea plantations for tastings, tours of Georgian landmarks, and in the evening, winemaking talks, demonstrations of qvevri, tastings, and a feast are possible.

This establishment differs from similar establishments in that it offers visitors an informed choice. They sample what they might like, rather than being handed something they don't have a choice about. Since the majority of the clientele are locals, the prices are very affordable for the excellent quality.

The number of participants in the program depends on the format they choose. There have been tastings with up to 150 people. The garage has many locations, and Batumi is a beautiful city, so a wonderful atmosphere is guaranteed during the tastings. The question is about timing. For example, a master class takes about 45 minutes, and a tasting takes half an hour. However, an experiment with a Georgian evening or feast, designed to immerse people in the authentic Georgian atmosphere, is usually conducted in groups of 15 people and lasts quite a while. At the time of filming, Garage Wines has two tasting rooms, but more may open depending on the number of visitors and demand.

The performers who sing and dance here are ordinary people who have free time and are willing to devote themselves to their hobbies. Their performances are much more enjoyable to watch than those of people who perform at, say, weddings, where you want them to finish quickly. Here, watching them is pure pleasure.

We were also taught about Georgian etiquette and how to hold a glass comfortably, so you don't have to reach too far. Ziya's goal is to weed out all the unnecessary and retain the traditions that are fundamental to tasting wine, cheese, and other natural products. For example, holding a glass of white wine with both hands is not recommended, as this will only warm it, which is unacceptable for a drink that should be served between 11 and 15 degrees Celsius. However, holding red wine this way is acceptable: its serving temperature is between 15 and 19 degrees Celsius, so sometimes it's even necessary to hold it with both hands to quickly bring it to the optimal temperature, where all its flavors and aromas can be appreciated.

Wine without decanting, without oxygenation, won't be ready for drinking, so it needs to be given time to breathe. This requires holding the glass correctly, either at the top or by the stem. The more oxygenated the wine, the richer its flavor will be, and the more its aromatic components will unfold. But, again, it all depends on the wine. If the wine is 1.5 years old, you can easily leave it open overnight; by midday the next day, it will be perfect. There are special devices called decanters, which are designed to increase the surface area of ​​contact with air, allowing the wine to oxygenate more quickly.

Ziya discussed wine characteristics. In addition to the two main ones—price and quality—there are several other criteria: acidity, sweetness, strength, tannins, and body. You can specify these points when ordering a wine, and then you'll receive a drink with those characteristics. Flavor nuances, however, are individual. There's no need to look for specific high notes; you can call a spade a spade. A depression at the bottom of the bottle is made to collect the fine sediment, making it easier to assess the amount in the bottle. If you hold your palm up and notice that the sediment is only a finger deep, the wine is fine. If it's more, you need to decide whether to pour it out or replace the bottle. This method allows you to determine the degree of contamination of the wine.

In industrial production, 70-90% of the cost goes into the bottle, with the remainder going to the wine itself. If the wine is high-quality, the cost of the container is 40 to 60%. In the garage, sterilization is carried out, just like in real winemakers, resulting in significant savings, and the wine is cheaper while still maintaining its high quality.

The garage sells the culture of consumption, Georgian dishes, and feasts. Here you can experience simple, authentic Georgian dishes and recipes that you can use anywhere, and they will be useful throughout your life, unlike the complex dishes of European countries. Here you can buy wine, cheese, honey, tea, books.

Now, briefly on each point.

1. The primary audience is people trying to achieve an altered state of consciousness without the use of any prohibited substances. Because these products are enzymatic, and when consumed in certain ways, a person can enter an altered state, which can be achieved through the right combinations of cheese and wine, or tea and wine. This state is adjustable. It has a lower and an upper limit. If you don't snack or drink wine with it, you can exceed the upper limit you're aiming for, and then you'll be far from the truth due to your intoxicated state. However, if you drink or eat with wine, the altered state can last for many hours.
2. Through posts on social media or during tastings, Ziya talks to people about wine. It's always mentioned that the truth lies in the balance that must be maintained when drinking this beverage. Wine should always be washed down with tea or water, or accompanied by cheese. An altered state can also be achieved with a single glass, but you must first consume half of what you would normally eat during the period of drinking it. Ziya Khaidarov wishes our viewers to remain true to their traditions and be a little closer to the truth, to resist any globalization trends, and to be closer to the moment and the land where they live.

Garage Wines makes you want to return again and again, and to participate in the events held there.

If after watching the video you have any questions for Ziya or his team, please leave them in the comments below.

See you soon.

Garage Wines - 8 Mazniashvili Street, Batumi

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