Georgian Wine (and Food) Alert!

... and we're not talking the Peach State, but rather the former Soviet republic (and birthplace of Joseph Stalin).  As readers will remember from my previous post, in my last tasting class I featured a Georgian Saperavi wine that went over very well among the imbibers.  Now I'm pleased to report that in a twist of coincidental kizmet following the class by just a few days, Craig Laban, food critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, reviewed a newly opened Georgian restaurant and bakery in Northeast Philadelphia which just so happens to be located down the street from a PA Wine and Spirits store that carries a fair selection of Georgian wines - which means you don't have to go over to Jersey to find a bottle of these Caucasian delights!  http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/craig_laban/georgian-bread-northeast-philly-craig-laban-restaurant-review-russian-cooking-20171124.html

Intrigued by the restaurant review, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to sample their food and delicious bread (!) when, by happenstance, I needed to pick up some merchandise at a nearby Best Buy.  And naturally, nor could I not visit the aforementioned PA Wine store to pick up a bottle of Saperavi to go along with the fare.

 

 I was not disappointed - indeed, it was an absolutely divine pairing of food and wine from a culture and region that deserves much greater recognition here in the New World.  I feasted on the adjuruli khachapuri bread along with the ostri beef stew washed down with the Teliani Valley (dry) Saperavi red, which I actually preferred to the slightly sweet Saperavi featured in my class.  At the wine shop I also picked up a bottle of the Orgo Rkatsiteli white wine which is made in the style of the so-called "orange wines".

                                           

 I haven't sampled this white yet, but you can read Laban's take on it, as well as his notes on the Saperavi, at the following link: http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/craig_laban/georgian-wines-bustleton-avenue-northeast-philly-teliani-valley-saperavi-orgo-khaketi-20171124.html

Although it's a bit of trek out to the Northeast for those of us in Northwest Philadelphia (and you do have to suffer the indignities of the infamous Roosevelt Boulevard), you will be richly rewarded!  I can't wait to make the journey again myself and delve further into Georgian cuisine!
გაუმარჯოს!!