Georgian wine house Tamada opens in China

China is welcoming the opening of a new Georgian wine house that will show the country’s 8,000-year-old history of winemaking, its culture and folklore to visitors.

The new Tamada wine house was opened by one of China’s largest Georgian wine importing companies Xinjiang Beifaing Jianda Trade Co. This was the ninth wine centre opened by the company in China.

Tamada is a Georgian word for a person appointed as toastmaster at a feast (supra).

Visitors to the Tamada wine house can see large Georgian qvevri (clay amphora-like vessel traditionally used to make wine), wine-related items and copies of paintings of famous Georgian painter Niko Pirosmani.

Guests are also invited to make traditional Georgian snack Churchkhela and Khinkali - a Georgian dumpling with spiced meat, herbs and onions.

China has become an important wine importer country for Georgia.

Last year the Government of Georgia worked hard to diversify its wine exports and this was evident in data by Georgia's National Wine Agency, who said Georgian wine exports to China had increased by 122 percent in 2015 compared to 2014.

Last year Georgia exported 2,672,154 bottles of wine to China. With these figures China was the fourth largest importer of Georgian wine in 2015.