The climate in the last-named districts is more propitious to the rearing of the vine for the purpose of making wine than in the government of KoutaTs,* where dense forests on the mountains attract the Black Sea mists, so that the wine produced there is usually thin and add, and not lit for keeping. Its best sorts are the Sodjavah' of Gouna and the Adjalej of Mingrelia. The richest vineyards are in the valley of Alazan, which extends to 150 versts at its widest part, is 16 vents broad at Telav, and j6 versts at Sygnah, They yield annually 3,000,000 vedros of the best wine known as that of Kakhety, red and white, aromatic and of agreeable flavour; the wine of Sygnah, called Tzynodal, being superior to that of Telav.
In Elyzavetopol, where the climate is favourable, the quality of the wine is good but the yield is not great The grapes of Erivan, especially tiie Muscat, are excellent; and the wine, which is stronger and sweeter than
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* The govemment of Koula'is includes the provinces of Imeiiiia, MioEieli* fii t, Google that produced in other provinces, is much esteemed. At Shemahl^ Matrasy, and other places in the government of Bakou is produced the Mairasynsky, a sweet wine when new, but which improves greatly by keeping.
Grapes are gathered in September and October. Needy proprietors gather early, and make the most wine in proportion to the size of their vineyards, but it is poor and fit only for immediate consumption. The October vintage, by which time the grape has thoroughly ripened, yields a fuller and more aromatic wine, but in smaller quantities, which never will stand keeping. The leaves, that cluster about poles six feet or eight feet in height, are at this season of every shade of green, turning to yellow and red. The fruit is equally striking in appearance, for the M'tzovany, R'katzytely, and Boudeshoury, of various forms and colour, black, dark red, amber, or pale green, are planted indiscriminately, the Soperany only, a red grape, growing separately. It is employed in the colouring of wine, turning the white to a golden tint, and changing the red to dark purple. As they gather, the pickers take care to make a good selection of the fruit for drying at their homes.
The grapes are pressed, and wine is stored under cover of rude constructions of stone roughly roofed over, called maranya. Huge narrowmouthed earthen tubs, seven or eight feet in depth, after being well coated with whitewash, are buried in the earth where the soil is driest, to receive the juice from the wine-presses placed over them. The press is of brick or stone kept whitewashed, but the poorer people are content to use a pierced trough, in which the grapes are crushed with a staff.
A month before the kvtvry, or earthen tub, is required for use, the inside is well rinsed with fir and juniper branches that have been soaked in water. WTien filled, the pulp is put in to preserve the wine, a tight-fitting wooden cover, secured with clay, closes the jar, and the process of fermentation which extends over several days takes place through a pipe in the cover. A small mound of earth marks where the ki>evry is buried.
The largest tubs are made on the spot, and baked in furnaces specially prepared to receive them; they contain from 100 to aoo vedros, but some, it is said, will hold 800 vedros. The average cost of a kvevry is fifteen roubles.
New wine is called madjary, and is employed in the pre|)aration of badt^a, a favourite sweet dish. Fruit soaked in madjary becomes UkoureA'Ady. Sometimes smooth planks are smeared over with madjary which is left to diy, and the substance being peeled off is called tatara.
The occasion is one of solemnity when the tasting of wine takes place
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in the maranya, at a table to which guests from a distance are invited. Jf the wine is pronounced unfit, it is left to ferment for the second time; but if good, the pulp is at once removed to be used in the distillation of spirits, and the wine is baled out with tchapa, copper vessels. One lialf the contents of the tub being usually clear and of good flavour, is at once disposed of for immediate consumptioii; the remainder is left for a short time only, to settle, and is afterwards poured into small jars holding a tounga (Eve bottles), for wine will not keep after having been exposed to the air. If tubs are left unopened, it will preserve for some years.
Wine is usually sold wholesale in Kakhety. From kvevry it is ffansfeired to bourdyouky, bullock skins turned inside out, after having been ireli rubbed over with naphtha, which imparts an exceedingly disagreeable flavour to the first liquor it receives. The largest skins contain ^^peuds.