Jvari Etseri, nr Chiatura, Georgia

I'm a little out of order again. These photos are from before our trip to Abastumani. Oh well.

Here our friend is excavating his marani, or wine store - a collection of huge clay vessels sunk into the ground and stoppered with earth. There's a layer on the top of the wine which must be removed using handy fig leaves. Then the wine is ready to decant - delicious!