(L-R: Archeologists Steven Batiuk (CAN), Mikhael Abramishvili (GEO), and JQ, at an ancient qvevri pit. Mikhael shows how tall the original vessel would have stood under the earth.) You don't have to travel far from Tbilisi to find an historical record of ancient wines; in fact, you don't need to leave the city at all. Before exploring the wine villages near Khvanchkara in northern Racha this week, we drove 20 minutes from our apartment to join archeologists Steven and Mikho

(with Giorgi Natenadze at ancient wine terraces in southern Georgia) I can't imagine trying to understand Georgia's history as a nation without a visit to the southwest region of Meskheti (Samstkhe-Javakheti). It was here that Queen Tamar defended the Georgian state at the zenith of its power and cultural sophistication, at the turn of the 13th c.AD; it was here that Georgia's remarkable national poet, Shota Rustaveli, was born and composed verses; here rises the early medie