By Prof. Giorgi Pkhakadze, MD, MPH, PhD · 15/09/2026
A supra is a Georgian feast, and it is the thing that most surprises, delights and occasionally defeats first-time visitors. It is not a meal with speeches. It is a structured ceremony with a leader, a fixed order of themes, rules about when to drink, and a role for the guest. Knowing the shape of it turns an evening from bewildering to one of the great experiences of travel.
The tamada
Every supra has a toastmaster, the tamada — chosen for eloquence, stamina and the ability to hold a table. Nobody drinks wine except when the tamada proposes a toast; between toasts the glass rests. He speaks, sometimes for a minute, sometimes for five, on the theme; others may add to it, and then the table drinks together. Sipping outside a toast is noticed. Draining the glass at each toast is expected of men and admired in anyone; a guest may drink less, but should always lift the glass and drink something.
The order
The themes come in a sequence that hardly varies. First, to God, or to peace. Then to the reason for the gathering — the harvest, the birthday, the guest’s arrival. To Georgia. To the dead — the ancestors, the family’s departed, drunk standing, often in silence, a moment of real weight in the middle of the noise. To parents. To children and the future. To the women at the table. To the guests, individually and warmly, and here you will be named and looked at. Then to love, to friendship, to the tamada himself (proposed by someone else), and, when it is time, to the departed guests and a safe road — the signal that the evening is closing.
Between toasts there is food — endlessly, in waves, plates stacked on plates — and there is polyphonic singing, which begins spontaneously and stops the table.
Your part
You will be asked to toast. Stand, hold the glass, thank the host, say one true thing about the country or the table, and drink. Short is fine; sincere is essential; the table will applaud. An alaverdi — when the tamada passes a toast to you to continue — is an honour; add a sentence and pass it on or drink. Never toast with beer. Do not leave until the road toast. And eat: the only real mistake is to drink a supra on an empty stomach.
See it with GTour
Every multi-day GTour tour in Kakheti includes a family supra: the Grand Wine & Heritage tour, the Rtveli harvest tour with two of them, and the welcome dinner of Georgia in 7 days. Your guide will sit beside you and tell you what is being said.
This story in Georgian — ქართულად: shenidasveneba.ge
ქართულად: სუფრა, გაშიფრული — რას ნიშნავს სადღეგრძელოები და როდის ისმევა
