Gabriel Menabde

I am Gabriel Menabde, a sommelier. I studied at the Agrarian Universtiy of Georgia at the faculty of viticulture and winemaking. In my opinion, while studying at this university, you have all the conditions to become a professional. Accordingly, a motivated student can easily become successful, and fortunately I know many such people.

How I got to where I am today?

There is no specific reason for me being in this field. In General, like most Georgian families, I was involved in the traditional harvest since childhood, although I had no idea how valuable winemaking was for Georgia.

Over time, my interest also grew, in which my parents contributed a lot. I spent the harvest season in Imereti (west region of Georgia) with my siblings, I say this because it is very important to stand by loved ones in the process of choosing a profession.

My goal is:

I do not have specific goals, and I do not want to set out to do anything too specific, because I think it is hard for you to develop after you reach a goal. In general, I think about this issue a lot and I have not come to anything yet... At this point, I want to be where I am and who I am.

What motivates me to do what I do?

At this point I am sommelier of Chateau Buera and I will answer the question accordingly.

For me, motivation consists of several parts, one is the place where I am, and in this matter I think that I am very lucky, and the other is the relationship with the guest. As you know, the main activity of sommelier is communication with people. During the tasting, I like the fact that they ask me a lot of questions, because I think that where there are questions, there is a lot of interest. This motivates me. I always try to never leave a question unanswered, so constant learning is necessary.

What is missing in Georgian winemaking industry?

On this question, I will only tell you my good wishes. It has been two years since I moved to Kakheti from Tbilisi and I have studied here in one way or another. I think Telavi should be the leading educational city in the direction of winemaking in all of Georgia. I think it is very important for the student’s development to change the environment at a young age, thich is a great professional and life experience. In addition, we all know very well that the majority of Georgia’s wine production comes from Kakheti, and this is a great opportunity for students, both for studying and for work.

Advice to those who choose this profession now:

Here again, I will limit myself to my desire, because giving advice requires a lot of experience.

According to my observation, choosing a profession is very difficult, as if we are at a crossroads in life and either it will work out or not, I would tell students that such thoughts are useless and I do not think it is necessary to have a specific profession.

If you are studying winemaking, be sure to start studying the history of winemaking in Georgia.