My region, Samtskhe-Javakheti (Meskheti), was occupied by the Ottoman Empire for four centuries. The Ottomans destroyed vineyards and wine villages and wiped out many local endemic grape varieties. Then came the Russian Empire, which replaced the surviving Meskhetian grape varieties with other industrial varieties. This effectively brought Meskhetian winemaking to an end.

Today, I have dedicated myself to researching, studying, identifying, and multiplying the oldest Meskhetian vines.

I have spent much of the past decade traipsing through mountain forests in search of ancient vines growing the way nature intended — up trees. I have found some vines that are more than 100 years old, and one that I believe is more than 400 years old. I have discovered 40 rare grape varieties in the forests in the south of the country, near the border with Turkey, but I have only been able to identify 24 of them so far. Each year, I make a different wine from these ancient varieties at Natenadze’s Wine Cellar in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region.

In my region, this is the first winemaking to take place since the 16th century. I forage grapes from the forests and from the remains of ancient, abandoned villages. Most of these grapevines are more than 100–200 years old, while the oldest — and largest — is more than four centuries old. It is still alive and continues to produce grapes that I use to make my wines.

So, I make wild wines from grapes foraged from vines growing wild in the volcanic mountains of Meskheti, where everything is wild and natural. We can say that these are among the most natural wines on the planet.

The elevation ranges from a minimum of 1,000 meters to a maximum of 1,650 meters above sea level for the vineyards. My wines are extremely limited in production, with only 500 to 6,000 bottles produced per year, depending on the grape variety.

When you taste Meskhuri wine, you feel the whole history and legends of Meskheti, expressed through absolutely unique aromas and flavors.

Georgia is the world’s oldest winemaking country, and Georgian scientists believe that the birthplace of Georgian wine may be Meskheti.

Meskheti is a mountainous, dry continental, volcanic region, characterized by basalt stones and limestone soils.

Meskhuri wines are made in qvevri using traditional Georgian winemaking methods. The wines are very harmonious and elegant, with relatively low alcohol and well-balanced acidity. Many sommeliers consider them among the most elegant and well-balanced wines.

We produced our first wine in 2009, marking the revival of winemaking in Meskheti (Samtskhe-Javakheti) after centuries of interruption.

Today, our wines are available in several countries around the world, and they have been featured in some of the world's most respected wine magazines.

Cheers,

Giorgi