Georgia is one of the oldest wine countries in the world, if not the oldest. Within this wine country are also some of the oldest wine cellars. Ikalto, the Chavchavadze House, Alaverdi, Telavi, and Vardzia Terraces are just five of them.
IKALTO
The Ikalto wine cellar is located in the village of Ikalto which is roughly 10 km from the town of Telavi in the Kakheti region. In Ikalto a monastery named simply the Ikalto Monastery was founded in the 6th century by one of the 13 Assyrian fathers. In the 12th century, the Academy of Ikalto was formed.
The students of the academy were trained in theology, rhetoric, astronomy, philosophy, geography, geometry, chanting, but also in other skills including pottery and winemaking. The monastery can still be visited today, and there, visitors will see the cellars where the wine was made.
CHAVCHAVADZE HOUSE
The Chavchavadze House in Tskhinandali s another old cellar. Alexander Chavchavadze was a well-known aristocrat of the 19th century. Chavchavadze loved Georgia and its agricultural value and potential and brought back vines from Frnce and began to grow them on his land in Kakheti. The resulting wine was awardwinning. Chavchavadze’s home is now a museum and hotel, and tours enable visitors to soak up the process of winemaking, ongoing even today.
ALAVERDI
Located in the river Alazani valley in the Kakheti Province is the Alaverdi Monastery Cellar. The monastery was founded in the 9th century, but its wine cellar cellar dates back to the 11th. Restored in 2006, the cellar is now operating once more and making wine including the famous red Badagoni wine, matured in wooden vessels.
TELAVI WINE CELLAR
A perhaps slightly newer wine cellar is the Telavi Wine Cellar located in the city Telavi, also in the Kakheti Province. Founded in 1915, this cellar has been producing wine for over a century. Due to its younger age, Telavi Wine Cellar combines modern equipment alongside the ancient practices and vessels to create great wine and uphold Georgia’s title as one of the oldest wine regions and one of the most superior.
VARDZIA
Vardzia Terraces Winery located near the cave city of Vardzia is within the village of Khizabavra in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region. Vardzia Terraces operates on ancient grounds. This year the restored winery, with the assistance of businessmen Mamuka Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze and Giorgi Natenadze, saw vinesproduce their first harvest since the12th century. With the restoration of the cellar, the Meskhetian winemaking traditions are being brought back to life.
By Shirin Mahdavi