Caucasus is a catchall term for countries lying along the Caucasus Mountain range, stretching from the Black Sea to the Caspian. Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia sit on the mountainous south side, while the northern side includes some of Russia’s fertile steppe. Many of the region’s spirits are based on grapes, an outgrowth of millennia of winemaking traditions. In Georgia, “chacha” means both pomace from winemaking (the grape skins, seeds, and stalks) as well as distillates made from it. See pomace brandy. Once strictly a family activity, chacha is growing in economic significance since the introduction of an official geographical indication in December 2011, applicable to chacha made from grape pomace within ten officially recognized Georgian wine-growing regions. The rise of chacha has also sparked an artisan spirits movement, with chic bars in Tbilisi pouring Georgian-made absinthe, gin, and herbal liqueurs. To the south, Armenia shares Georgia’s deep ties to wine, but brandy is the drink of choice: Ararat, made by the Yerevan Brandy Company since 1887, is the primary producer. The distillery, run by Pernod-Ricard since 1998, offers ten bottlings made from grapes double-distilled and aged in barrels made from local oak in the distillery’s own cooperage. See Pernod-Ricard. Many Armenian families distill oghi (brandy) from grapes or fruits such as mulberries and cornelian cherries. The bounty in both countries is a stark contrast to Azerbaijan and the northern Caucasus, both of which have long winegrowing histories but have never recovered from Soviet prohibition practices, thanks to both their unstable political scenes and large Muslim populations. When people do drink, vodka is the common choice, although samogon (Russian moonshine) may be more popular. See samogon.
See also chacha; grappa; home distilling; marc; and Russia and Eastern Europe.
McGovern, Patrick E. Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007.
World Health Organization. Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health. http://www.who.int/substanceabuse/publications/globalalcohol_report/en/ (accessed February 23, 2021).
By: Tara Q. Thomas