The producer profile of Georgia is that of a healthy, vibrant wine sector, with a variety of wines suited to every UK channel and audience. Georgian wine producers include wineries that are part of multi-national conglomerates, producing several million bottles a year, and fiercely independent natural wine makers producing just a couple of thousand. The uniqueness and character of the Georgian wine personality is undiminished.
Founded in 2004, Georgian Wines is an example of the blossoming of new, small wine producers since the new millennium.
This small producer of qvevri wines was founded by the charismatic, curious and dynamic Eko Glonti. Eko’s previous careers were in medicine and geology, and their disciplines show in his sensitive and holistic approach to vine-growing and wine making.
This small producer of qvevri wines was founded by the charismatic, curious and dynamic Eko Glonti. Eko’s previous careers were in medicine and geology, and their disciplines show in his sensitive and holistic approach to vine-growing and wine making.
Precise and considered, Kakha Tchotiashvili is a quiet but inspiring force. His immaculate little marani is beautifully, almost sparsely, ordered. Kakha tolerates the surging interest in himself and his wines from the wine media.
This dynamic family winery is a success story of the new wave of Georgian wine. Dimitri Dugladze bought the former Soviet winery in Kakheti in 2004 and set about transforming it, introducing the latest technology while honouring Georgia’s time-honoured qvevri winemaking.
Georgian Wine House was founded in 1996 in the city of Gori, a city that has been at the heart of travel and trade for centuries. Located at the confluence of two major rivers, Gori sits on the ancient spice route, its history shaped by trade between east and west.
This relatively new estate has a fascinating back-story. Lado Uzanishvili brims with energy, enthusiasm and knowledge. Wine is in his blood. In the 19th century, his forefathers were chief winemakers on the princely estates of Alexander Chavchavadze. They went on to be awarded an Imperial Medallion and 100 gold coins for “Notable and Outstanding Winemaking” by Tsar Nicolas II.
This sparkling wine specialist is named in honour of Prince Ivane Bagration of Mukhrani, the wine-loving prince who introduced sparkling wine production in Georgia in 1882, using the techniques he had witnessed in Champagne.
The Jakeli brothers established their organic vineyard in 2001, and began commercial production 7 years later. Their small, 6 hectare, site is in Kashmi, a renowned microzone at altitudes of 500-700 metres.
Sisters Baia and Gvanca Abuladze are inspiring young women. In just three years, they have restored their family’s long wine tradition.
This young superstar of big Georgian wineries own a considerable 400 hectares of vineyards, and benefits from the consulting advices of the renowned Italian enologist, Donato Lanati.
Ramaz Nikoladze’s wines are one of the most sought-after cult wines of Georgia. They are fought over by cutting-edge sommeliers and natural wine buyers in London, New York and Tokyo.
In 2005, eighth-generation Georgian wine-maker Gela Patalishvili came across American artist John Wurdeman painting in a vineyard. In 2007, they co-founded this holistic and dynamic winery in Signaghi.
This large and quality-focused producer owns vineyards in many of Georgia’s most famed micro-zones and appellations. The winery is in Tsinandali, the aristocratic town that Prince Chavchavadze made the heart of contemporary Georgian wine production in the 18th century.
This exquisite winery, cellar and house was first created by the remarkable couple Ilia Chavchavadze and Olga Guramishvili in the late 1800s.
Established in the 1960s, for decades Tbilvino was the state-owned engine that satisfied the thirst for easy-drinking Georgian wine all over the Soviet Union. In the last two decades, following Georgia’s hard-won independence, Tbilvino has been transformed into one of the most dynamic, open-minded, large producers of Georgia.
In 2012, diggers unearthed a surprise stash of hundreds of old qvevri in the grounds of Vaziani wine cellar. They were the remains of the once princely, then derelict, winery of Makashvili, founded in the latter half of the 15th Century.
Giorgi (Gogi) Dakishvili is one of the most respected and influential winemakers of Georgia. A skilled enologist, he combines technical excellent with intuitive creativity.
Founded in 1915, Telavi Wine Cellar fell on hard times in the post-Soviet era. It was rescued from bankruptcy and neglect by a small group of entrepreneurs led by former surgeon, and avid Burgundy fan, Zurab Ramazashvili.
The story behind this apparently modern winery is a gripping tale of princes, tragedy and resurgence. Wine Man was founded by Alexandre I. Jorjadze in 1998, who is descended from a long line of Kakhetian Princes.
In just two decades, Askaneli has grown to become one of the most dynamic wineries in Georgia. The name is derived from the village “Askana” in Guria, which is the hometown of charismatic founder Gocha Chkhaidze. Guria is a byword in Georgia for eccentric creativity, exuberant performance, and a dry, dark wit.
Brothers Vakho and Giorgi Khutsaidze consult to some of Georgia’s most admired wineries; this is their small family winery which they established in 2017. Dynamic and youthful, the brothers are experts in organic and low intervention viticulture in Georgia.
Nukri Kurdadze knows the big side of wine business: he had a successful career representing the wine brands of Pernod Ricard in Russia. On retirement, he followed his dream. With his son, Sandro, a philosophy graduate, he established a tiny, organic vineyard in the prize heart of Kakheti.
Giuaani is a young company with old origins. The Giuashvili family have farmed vineyards at Manavi, a noted wine village of Kakheti, since the 1800s. In 2010 they established Qiuaani, with a new winery containing both qvevri and modern technology.
This boutique producer makes tiny quantities of excellent wines, beautifully labelled and selectively distributed. They are already something of a cult among Tbilisi’s nascent trendy wine scene.
An exemplary larger producer, Schuchmann has shown the world the versatility, consistency and appeal of contemporary Georgian wine.
GWS is one of the biggest and most dynamic producers of Georgia. It emerged from the Soviet-era government winery “Telavi2”, which was established in the 1970s. In common with several former Soviet wineries, Telavi2 was purchased by forward-thinking entrepreneurs in the early 1990s, just as Georgia was emerging into independence.
Iago Bitarishvili makes just 5,000 bottles a year, but his influence and impact is that of a major, and visionary, producer. From his family vineyards in Kartli he makes arrestingly elegant Amber and White wines from the local Chinuri grape.
Khareba is a large and commercially significant Georgian wine producer with an aristocratic origin. As long ago as the 17th century, wines from its vineyards in Vachnadzeani, in Hereti, were championed by the noble Jandieri and the Vachnadze families.
Teliani are combining state of the art wine craft – the science of how to coax the best from nature – with a wisdom and inherited know-how that comes from a line of winemakers stretching back 8000 years.
