Our Story
My name is Ekaterina Latsabidze, and my love for Georgia, its rich culture and age-old wine tradition is not something I ever consciously chose. It lives inside me. It is who I am.
When I left Georgia and settled in Belgium, I brought more than memories. I brought a deep-rooted pride for a country that has been making wine for over eight thousand years, long before the rest of the world even thought about it. Georgia is the cradle of wine. Not as a metaphor, but as a historical fact.
And that story does not tell itself.
From city guide to wine importer
During my training as a city guide in Antwerp, something became clear to me that has never let me go: almost no one here truly knows Georgia. Not its history, not its culture, and certainly not its wine. A country with a civilisation thousands of years old, with a wine tradition deeper than anywhere else in the world, remained virtually unknown here.
I could not leave it that way.
To deepen my knowledge, I followed a wine education, and there I gained not only expertise but also a new understanding of what wine truly is. For me, wine is not a drink. Every bottle is a story about a land, about a season, about hands that have worked the soil and a heart that has been poured into it. Wine is the winemaker: his vision, his passion, his craft.
It was from that belief that I started a small-scale import of Georgian wines. What began as a professional project quickly grew into something far more personal. The winemakers I work with have become friends over the years. When I visit their vineyards, I see not only the hard work behind every bottle. I see the pride with which they keep an ancient tradition alive. That pride I carry home with me, to Belgium, into every bottle I import.
TasteQvevri: more than wine
Together with my son Giorgi, we founded TasteQvevri. A name that says everything. Taste: the pure sensory experience that everyone deserves. Qvevri: the heart of the Georgian wine tradition, the traditional clay amphora jars buried deep in the ground where wine ferments and matures for months. A UNESCO-recognised cultural heritage.
We work directly with passionate winemakers, from the green hills of Kakheti to the terraces of Kartli, who grow their grapes the way their ancestors did: with patience, with respect for nature and with pride in what ends up in the bottle. Names like Winiveria, Villa Mosavali, Tsinandali Estate and Gurashvili stand for that craftsmanship.
Our mission is simple but meaningful: to introduce every wine lover in the Benelux to the authentic taste, history and culture of Georgia. With every bottle we import, we build a bridge between two cultures that share a deep appreciation for hospitality, quality and the pleasure of beautiful moments.
J'AMI: where the story gets a table
In December 2024, two dear friends and I opened a new chapter in this story. At Vlasmarkt 9, in the historic heart of Antwerp, J'AMI opened its doors: a Georgian restaurant where food, wine and culture come together at one table.
At J'AMI, we do not just serve dishes. We serve Georgia. You can taste the wines we import, accompanied by the flavours of a cuisine that is just as old and just as rich as the wine tradition itself.
Why I do This
Because I live between two worlds and I am grateful for that every single day. Georgia shaped me. Belgium gave me a home. And wine is the language in which those two worlds understand each other.
I do this for the winemaker in Kakheti who has poured his life into his vineyard and deserves to have his story heard. I do this for the wine lover here who does not yet know what is waiting for them. And I do this because I know, deep down: whoever tastes Georgian wine for the first time always comes back for more.
Welcome to the world of Georgian wine. A world full of tradition, character and stories that deserve to be told.
Welcome to TasteQvevri. Welcome to my table.
