Wholesale grape market for home winemakers

A dream for home winemakers....

Kutaisi, Georgia
Last story about Georgia, this was in october.
Tipped about it by Ramaz, I discovered this wholesale grape market on the outskirts of Kutaisi, that was pretty difficult because initially I found nothing on the Internet about it including on Google Maps, I had to ask a local about directions. Nikea's Bazaar (located on Nikea street) is a wholesale vegetable and fruit market with a whole section devoted to grapes at the harvest season. The market is open to everyone, and people come here to buy for example 50 or 100 kg of potatoes or other vegetables at a discount price compared to retail shops downtown. I reached the place with a marshrutka (pic on left) from downtown, very easy, you could even go there by foot. At a distance from the road at the end of a side lane I saw the gate of the market (pic on right). At the beginning I just saw these vans and trucks lined in a huge lot with all sorts of vegetables in large quantities to offer, then at the end of the huge lot I reached the grape market and this was a big surprise : I discovered that city dwellers come here to buy large quantities of grapes with the only aim to make their own wine !

I wish we were allowed to do that in France ! Imagine you'd have access to a négoce market for grapes, say, in the outskirts or Blois, Nantes, Angers, Montpellier or Lyon, you'd buy your few hundred kilograms of grapes, have them crushed and pressed either in the market or at home and have the corresponding volume of juice fermenting in your cellar... That's what Georgian can do, I'm not sure they realize how lucky they are... This is typically the type of direct sales from the producer to the consumer about which our smart politicians like to talk about but never deliver. And if allowed in our countries that would put the pressure on producers of industrial commercial wine as even ordinary people could vote with their feet and make their own healthy (if faulty) wine instead of paying overpriced for the corrected, sulfites-soaked bland beverage they pretend to call wine.

Grapes for sale (each bag or box making 30 kg)

Potential buyer checking the grapes

A seller (and probably grower)

Only a few bags left

Last 200 kg of grapes

Buy your press here !

Some had a very small volume to sell

This man is going to buy & load 450 kg of grapes in his Lada

Tastes good - not sure it's organic though

Checking the weight

Loading the bags, in the trunk first...

... then on the back seats

Loaded with 450 kg of grapes !

Going home to make wine

These guys will press your grapes for a fee (right in the market !)

Other pressing service - Loading the juice as you goMany (but not all) of the buyers seemed to be upper middle class (even if I'm not familiar with class/satus appearance in this country) and i think that while it is very affordable to buy a couple hundreds kg of grapes here, the people who make wine at home in the cities may have to have their own house and cellar, and also a taste for quality and fun...

Home winemaker watching as his grapes are pressed

Another mobile press

Under the tarpaulin

Fermenters

I shot this picture in another town, but that's typically the fermenters homewinemakers would use in Georgia, they're made in Georgia by Nova. Look how convenient they are, you have this wide opening perfect for skin maceration, and the drain valve at the bottom, positioned just above the bottom actually in order to leave the lees. The retail price here is very cheap : 100 Liter : 120 Lari (36 €), 200 L : 140 Lari (42 €), 300 L : 160 Lari (48 €), 500 L : 210 Lari (63 €)... There's a white lining inside which is said to be suitable for wine/food. My idea when I saw them was that they'd be a hot product in France as winemakers often need small containers when they can't fill their last barrel for a given cuvée. And frankly, I'd start making my first wine if I had the 100-liter one for example...

Wine dealer

In Georgia you can buy wine from dealers who sell it in 33 cl, 50 cl, 1L or 2L bottles, I tried the wine from this booth behind the central market in Kutaisi and it was pretty good in spite of the volatile, it was Saperavi, obviously unfiltered and with a vivid acidity. I paid 5 Lari (1,5) for one liter.

Wood cookstoves

At the Central Bus Station in Kutaisi (which should rather be named Marshrutka Central Station) they sell all kind of stuff in the side lanes, like here fermenters and demijohns (on the left) but I was more interested by these small Georgian wood cookstoves (the brown ones), they're made with pretty thick metal, seem spartan and efficient. Seemed to come direct from an ironwork workshop.

KVAS

Too bad summer was over because this mobile kvas booth was certainly active a few weeks ago : Kvas is an old refreshing beverage that is loved in all the former Soviet Union, people (adults as well as families with children) would queue to have a glass of this fermented beverage for a few kopeks (back then). Up to this day the people from the CEI who are old enough to have known this era are unanimously passionate about their relation to Kvas, as children, teenagers and adults. This article (in Russian) tries to find the reason behind the popularity of kvas, it says that this fermented beverage, unlike beer which in the Soviet Union could be crap, good or passable, kvas was always good, if with variation from region to region. The drink would be made available usually beginning for the 1st of may and would be served in the streets in popular spots until the 3rd week of september. This beverage is totally natural (made with rye), traditional (it was made in Russia since the Middle-Ages) and this page says it is good (take a seat) against cancer, heart disease, diabete, cholesterol, it cleans the intestines, improves the functioning of the stomach, maintains normal blood sugar levels, helps control weight, gives long-lasting energy... and has excellent aroma and taste. In short, everything natural wine does...;-)

Relief pural outside Kutaisi market featuring grapes & farmers

Chacha in the market

I bought this guy some chacha (local name for pomace brandy) on the central market in Kutaisi (paid 5 Lari or 1,5 € for a half-liter plastic bottle) and it was suprisingly smooth and enjoyable. I should have bought him as well this white wine on the right, obviously made through skin maceration. I think most of these people work with modest means and their products are healthy (beyond the possible oxydation and volatile). Actually I had my first chacha during this trip on my very first day : I was taking a picture (on right) of my beloved UAZ 452 (an iconic all-terrain odd-looking van which is still made to this day in Russia with the same body shape, looks bland but can go through places few fancy western 4x4 can) when the driver of this vintage soviet van went out and after we chatted a bit (in Russian), he offered me to taste some of his home production : deliciously smooth and strong, great introduction to thr Georgian spirit. The odd thing in this story is that there was a young bearded pope sitting in the back of the van, i didn't understand what he was doing there and didn't want to be on the picture (and neither the driver, I guess he was working and not suppose to have that plastic bottle in the car)....

Comments

[marcus]

nice post

[James Shaun]

Nice content for wholesalers.