Kvirikashvili: "Being toast-master in Georgia is better position than being Prime-Minister"

Being a toast-master – Tamada - in Georgia is a better position than being a Prime-Minister, - Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has declared in his speech at the Center of Global Wine Civlization, Interpressnews.ge reported.

"Wine and winemaking are the major markers of Georgia’s national identity. And the entire Georgian culture is saturated with the culture of winemaking – wine is everywhere – it is in the music, poetry, frescos, the Georgian ornaments… Indeed the fact that, we installed Qvevri – the clay vessel for fermenting wine is something Georgians dreamed about for many centuries. And Qvevri is recognized by UNESCO and included in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity. For Georgians, Qvevri is much more than that," he noted.

"Take the Georgian feast, the Supra – another way of social coexistence and a feast. It’s made up of four essential things: Georgian food, wine, Georgian singing and toast making. And a toast maker, which is called Tamada in Georgia, is the head of any feast, any Supra. And I would say that in Georgia all members of Supra observe very strict rules better than they observe the traffic rules. For this reason, I sometimes think that being a toast-master – Tamada - in Georgia is a better position than being a Prime-Minister," Kvirikashvili said.

"And I would like to say that Georgians enjoy the wine even in the afterlife: archeological finds show that there are places in the burial sites where we discover Qvevris. And I am really excited to have an opportunity to invite you all to the country that is one of the oldest Christian countriy's in the world, and one of the reasons they remain so devoted to their religion is because wine is part of the Christian communion. I would like to ask you to come to Georgia and to savor Georgia and to savor and taste Georgian wine as a very strong part of Georgia’s national identity, Thank you very much for this opportunity and thank you very much for being friends of Georgia," he concluded.