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About The Book

Uncorking the Caucasus is about the wines from Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia. Part travel narrative and part wine guide, this book will take the readers on a tasting tour through the wine regions in the three countries, recommend the best wine each place has to offer, provide anecdotal insights into the wine culture of each country, and discuss the history of ancient winemaking based on archeological evidence and folklores.!

Based on the authors’ three-month wine travel trip through the Caucasus, this book takes a ground-level approach, which enables the readers to experience an intimate journey through the cradle of wine. Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia all claim to be the birthplace of wine. Some of those claims are supported by archaeological findings and some by anecdotal evidence. However, this book isn’t about determining the birthplace of wine, but rather the goal is to capture the ethos of a wine region—that is the connection between wine, people, and place. !!For the wines highlighted in this book, besides their sensory merits, they should also inspire conversations, spark curiosity, and reflect an inspiring point of view that challenges the narrative of wine. !

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Dr Matthew Horkey & Charine Tan

“There are many arguments about the origin of wine; from an archaeological perspective, the signs point to about 8,000 years ago in the Transcaucasia—which includes present-day Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey.” - Uncorking the Caucasus

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In This Book, You Will Learn… This book is designed to serve as a foundational introduction to the wines of Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia. These three countries are considered to be the cradle of wine and the origin of the species Vitis vinifera. Wine scores and the technical aspects of wine will take a back seat to a prosumer’s narrative of wine and wine travel. We will take a historical look at the Caucasus region as a whole before dedicating a chapter to each country. Each chapter will contain information about:! !History!The historical evidence of winemaking in each country, spiced up by anecdotal stories from the local people.! !Grape Varieties!The international and indigenous varieties used for winemaking in the country. !!Stories on the Ground!Insight into the local wine culture based on first-hand accounts.!!Travel and Wine Guide!Besides narrative writing, there will also be plenty of practical information on the major wine regions, overview of tasting events, places to eat and stay, and where to buy wine. ! !Wine Recommendations!Recommendations on specific producers and wines to try, coupled with tasting notes. Native varieties that express great potential will also be highlighted.! !Featured Winemakers!These people will offer anecdotal insights and information on the current wine culture and the prospective future of their country as a wine destination.!!

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Dr Matthew Horkey & Charine Tan

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About Exotic Wine Travel Exotic Wine Travel was established in 2015 with the objective to promote exotic wines from lesser-known wine regions. !The problem with lesser-known wine regions and exotic wines is that often visitors bounce around a country swiftly and end up tasting some substandard, local wines that make them think that the country produces only cheap and average-tasting wines. Their taste of the local flavor tends to be incidental. Repeat the process a few more times and it will wear out their enthusiasm and adventurous palate for wine. For that reason, we aim to explore the lesser-known wine regions, introduce the readers to the best of what each region has to offer, and even provide some anecdotal insight into each region’s peculiarity. This will help our readers to leave a wine region with the best possible impression and feel encouraged to try more wines that are new to their palate.!!Uncorking the Caucasus is the first of a series of wine travel books that we will be releasing. !

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Dr Matthew Horkey & Charine Tan

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The Authors

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Dr Matthew Horkey & Charine Tan

Dr Matthew Horkey is the author of Travel Learn Earn: Let the World Be Your Guide to Freedom. !Besides his debut book, he has also written for several trade magazines and peer-reviewed publications. An experienced public speaker, he’s been a guest speaker at the American University of Rome, Life University, and various companies including Microsoft, TripAdvisor, Norton Rose, and JP Morgan. Dr Horkey is passionate about learning and trying traditional and unique wines, sharing information with people, and turning them on to wine. He does that now through theExotic Wine Travel Youtube Channel. !

Matthew: I didn’t grow up drinking wine. Growing up on a produce farm in a town of 2,500 people in southern Michigan, wine had no influence in my life. My parents kept no alcohol in the house. As my curiosity took over, drinking consisted of the cheapest beer my friends and I could get our hands on. !!My college days went by relatively alcohol-free until my last year at Michigan State University when a friend and I went to watch the movie Sideways by Alexander Paine. The way that Paul Giamatti’s character was obsessed with wine fascinated me. That curiosity followed me to graduate school, where I tried to learn as much about wine as possible.! !Taking a backpacking trip through Europe in the middle of graduate school opened my eyes to what wine could and should be. In Lucca, a walled city in Tuscany, I was blown away by the cheap and simple Vino da Tavola Rosso (Italian red table wine). I remember sticking my nose deep into the carafe and taking in a world of wine I had never experienced before.  !!Moving abroad to Singapore was where my real wine education started. After meeting Charine, her interest in the finer things in life deeply influenced me. We were soon at wine-pairing dinners every week, meeting and buying from wine importers, and joining Champagne clubs. That interest motivated us through the last year when we both quit our jobs to travel around the world in search of heaven in a glass. !!

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The Authors

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Dr Matthew Horkey & Charine Tan

Charine Tan has a decade-long experience across different functions–from branding to corporate performance, customer service, marketing, public relations, qualitative and quantitative research, social media, and sales. Today, as an entrepreneur, she is dedicated to bringing diversity to the world of wine through the promotion of independent wine travel and lesser-known wine regions.!

Charine: My interest in wine (and food) began at a very young age, kindled by a mix of curiosity and appetite. Contrary to Matthew’s experience, I grew up with alcohol. It was around me, inside me, sometimes even (spilt) on me. From beer to whiskey, brandy and wine, they were common beverages on any day and celebratory figures at festive gatherings. However, just as it was the case for Matthew, the wines I had at in my younger days were of quaffing standard—such as the sugary, “easy to drink” Merlot and over-oaked, vanilla-bomb-of-a-Cabernet-Sauvignon. ! !My first serious fascination with wine developed when I was 18, after tasting a village Burgundy, which was paired harmoniously with a series of French dishes. Unlike any of the wines that I had tasted in my earlier childhood—which often fell over the tongue like soiled fabrics—the Pinot Noir was delicate and fruity, folded in savory characteristics. From then on, I started having preferences and opinions about wine, most of which I never expressed because—like most people—I was still intimidated by the complex subject of wine.! !Over the years, my preferences have vacillated between different varieties and wine regions. However, more important than mere personal preferences, I’ve acquired an adventurous attitude towards wine. Tasting wine from lesser-known regions for the first time always excites me the most because every wine has the potential to be “the most memorable date of my life”. I’ve also learned to enjoy talking about wine and its intrinsic stories at length to engage other people and bring them along for the ride. !!Wine has become my way of exploring and interpreting the world. What makes modern wine travel so exhilarating is that it provides a port of entry into diverse topics such as geography, history, philosophy, religion, science, and sociology. I hope more people will join us in this journey of exploring the world through wine.!

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Title: Uncorking the Caucasus Subtitle: Wines from Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia Release Date: September 2016 Category: Cooking/Beverages/Wine & Spirit; Travel/Special Interest/General Price: USD 22.00 ISBN: 978-981-11-0711-5 Email: contact@exoticwinetravel.com Website: www.exoticwinetravel.com Publisher: The Blue Roster Private Limited. Singapore. Book cover features photograph Khor Virap by © Maks Karochkin, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

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