Page 14 - Code de Vino, #13/19, a/w 2016

12 Wine Club Code de Vino #13 Code de Vino #13 Bidzina Ivanishvili: Living by Law of Grapevine 13
— Mind if we add one more thing here? I once met a French And here's a story that has by now almost become a popular mended, and I'd go on to wear those hand-me-downs. Still, I had
winemaker. He showed up to our meeting and said: "I'm fifty joke, yet it depicts quite well the essence of our man. There was a better childhood than what my kids have because I was in the
years old, and it's only now that I'm starting to really feel the soil a Georgian in one region who lived in great poverty. One evening process of it all. I felt the earth, I walked the earth, watched
on which grapes grow. And you know what? I'm happy!" Isn't he was so hungry, he decided to just go to bed. He thought, everything grow, waited for spring, waited for our crops to ripen.
that—I mean, planting a vineyard—the true love for the land? "Maybe it'll get easier if I fall asleep." In the middle of the night, And now, even in winter, I can get cherries from Argentina.
somebody bangs on his door rudely. He asks, "Who's there?" Of course, my kids couldn't have most of that, and it's only natural.
— The movie "Father of the Soldier" captures it just right. Do you And the answer is, "We're robbers! Come on, do the sensible But it's important to remember all that and write your own history.
remember that one? The amount of love expressed in it, and not the thing and open up!" "Oof," says the Georgian, greatly relieved.
make-believe kind of love. It's an integral part of that movie. The way "Thank God! I thought you were guests..."
a peasant treats his wine and grapes... The way he treats the soil, — During our conversation, you reminded me of...
scoops it up, the way it smells... This is the process you talked about. If I'm allowed to characterize... You reminded me
I don't think you can call these people poor. of a grapevine. You grow up, then you grow your roots
Even if his guest takes his time to arrive, the Georgian will still love his In fact, they're very rich, if you ask me. deep in the ground, up again, and back in the ground.
land and soil. During the perestroika, families were the uniting power
behind Georgians. People were growing poor, with not much even — They are! Wealth isn't about money. I know many wealthy — And the wind tries to sweep the vine away, only making
to eat. They would grow tangerines and tea, but no one would buy families, including in Russia. And I'm sorry about them. They're it stronger...
them. I mean, they hadn't been particularly rich even before that, actually poor, miserable people. It's as though they aren't living
and things got even worse. their lives! You don't envy those. Back in the day, while still living
in Russia, I would say to some people: here, you've got it all. — Yes! It's the first time I've had such an impression when
And you did it not the way I did. In Russia, no one can say my interviewing anyone. An impression of a grapevine.
talk is cheap. I never let anyone down or deceived anyone.
No one ever checked my signature on any contracts. — Thank you, that's a good characterization. I love life. I feel life.
And I never broke the law. At 40, I started counting and evaluating every day. For me, a day
is lost if I haven't been out in the open. I get my energy from nature.
I only ever granted one interview that did not involve politics, When I get home, however late, I have to feel the trees, the soil...
just talking about life. One can see from it how I lived in Russia I just can't live in the city.
and what kind of an attitude I had. A journalist from Vedomosti Погреб шато Анжелюс
came to Paris, and instead of two scheduled hours, she spent
three days with me. She was digging for some kind of a mob — The problem is that people today are unable to focus,
story all the time, and I said to her, "I've lived my whole life true concentrate, stay disciplined, and, therefore, to size things
to my conscience." She shuddered, got red with anger, and up accurately.
muttered, "How dare you speak to me like that?" As if to a little girl
or something. And I went, "Don't you get rude with me, too! — And do you know what's the reason? Do you know why some
It's just like I'm telling you! I've lived my whole life true to my people can do it, while others can't? I told you I've been studying
conscience." Then there was an occasion when I told Forbes humans for 40 years. It's been a long journey, starting with Freud,
that too much money was akin to being overweight. Otto Weininger, and other psychoanalysts and psychologists, then My mother didn't have to go anywhere, only to work in the garden.
And they didn't publish it. How come? It's just like too much wine. Fromm... and it all led me to a simple thought. First of all, a child I was with her at all times, and I got more than enough attention.
Sure, one should take care of one's money, but if it's all one ever should grow up by his mother's side. Mother's attention is vital until That's why I understand life, why I can feel and love everything.
does... Why even live like that? It's way easier to just have a good the age of five or, at the very least, three. If a child gets I love other people, and I understand their pain because
qualification, a good job and, most importantly, to save up only it in abundance, his brain will be set up right. I understand mine. I love my children, and I understand all children.
as much as one can use. What's extra wealth for? People who were torn away can't feel that. They lose their basic
Just as you said, all is well then, the cycle is correct, and everything human qualities. Even their animalistic traits, they lose them, too.
And all that while living in a stable country, knowing one won't is distributed as it should be. All feelings are natural and by nature. You can't even compare them to beasts. They don't know love;
starve to death, with a guaranteed retirement plan, free to switch Just think of taking a child away from their mother, something they don't know how to love. Even animals love their own, so they
jobs at will, and not even owing anyone anything. So I once told that happens often these days in Europe and America: don't compare. That's what this is all about. That's the short story...
one well-off man, "Sasha, you've been stealing for so long. the emancipation, the approach to an upbringing by way of taking I could make it long if you want. It's my favorite subject I can rant
Is there an end to that in sight? You'll get caught one day. a newborn away and immediately putting them into another room. about for hours.
You have so much right now. You could at least change your The very idea that they could cry as much as they wanted but they'd
way of earning money. It'll get more interesting to make get used to it in due time... Sure, they'll get used to it, but it'll make The biggest thing is to give examples of how to do things the right
it that way. Why would you want to keep doing that? them a different person. way. And one more thing: if the children are born less than three
There's nothing more precious than life! Where's your limit? years apart—five or six is much better!—that is to say, if a mother
Where are you going to stop?" Hence the reason. Was I any better than my brothers and sisters? gives birth to another child too soon, the first one is lost. They just
See, I was born the fifth child in the family. But I was the youngest, won't get enough attention. In that regard, Georgians have a
But how can you talk about limits with those people? and therefore the best. I could absorb my mother's attention with favorite toast: for a brother and sister to love each other. The first
Miserable, aren't they? You've got to live by the process! my skin. For a while, I was simply fixated on it, assessing just how competition one ever engages in is for mother's love. It's very
The process is everything, starting with the family. much attention a mother pays to a child under three to five years difficult. That's the extent of my philosophy.
old. It doesn't matter that much later on. There's biological birth,
and then there's mental birth. A child is fully identified with their
— Well, that was quite the sharp turn. So how would mother at birth, as well as the child's body up to three years of age — Your words remind me of the song 'Grapeseed'
you define the process of living in a family? or, at the latest, up to five. Now, if the mother doesn't take effort by Okudzhava. And this is probably a good place
to bring them up right, they'll still be a mommy's boy or girl aged 60. to end our conversation, with Okudzhava's verse.
— I'm trying to do it the way it was when I myself was growing That's how I perceived your last remark, and really,
up, the way it was when I was a kid. I'm trying to teach my And if this process takes place the proper way, if the child gradually the entire interview.
children the same ways. Unfortunately, it's not quite working. leaves their biological birth behind, and the mother does everything
I consider my childhood to have been better than what my correctly so that the child wouldn't have any fears, they begin — Thank you.
children have got. Both at that time and today, you could say to self-identify, stepping away from the mother into independence.
I was born into a very poor family. I walked barefoot until I was This thread is gradually stretching, and finally, they are parted from
seven. There just wasn't any money to buy shoes. I was the their mother. At five, a person already realizes they've got their own — Thank you.
youngest son. Things the eldest son grew out of would be body. And if it is so, they're going to be all right.