Artana Wines - Anastasia Akhvlediani

The story of our wine cellar began in 2012 when I decided to take care of my mother’s abandoned vineyards. Before this, I have never been in touch with land, vineyards or wine.

Luckily my close friend's father was a winemaker. He is the reason why we make natural wines today. He taught me that well-groomed vineyard is the key to great wine. Slowly, I began to winemaking, which I continue to do to this day. In 2014 we built a wine cellar and made our first wine. Demand for natural wine is growing worldwide. As time goes on, the more popular it becomes. Our goal is to create a healthy environment for the next generation, for our children and increase the popularity of natural products. Vineyard Care Our vineyards are located in the village of Artana, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. That's why the grapes from this region are unique by their taste. We take care of our vineyard only with natural products. Once every four-five years, we use natural fertilizers. We strive to preserve the organic environment as much as possible. Among the rows of vineyards, we plant mustard flowers. We also have roses, peaches and cherries grown around the vineyard. Depending on the needs, the vineyard is sprayed 6-7 times a year. We use the “MANICA Bordeaux Mixture” and Sulfur it. The spraying is done by a tractor while the rest of the operations are done manually. Vintage Harvest starts in mid-September. Picking is done manually. In electric extractor, the grape juice is separated from the stems. Grape juice and skin is placed in a huge clay jar, Qvevri. Qvevris are placed in the cellar. The big clay jars which are used for fermentation have the capacity of two tons. But they are filled with grape juice and skins only by half to prevent them from boiling and spoiling the future wine. Fermentation lasts on average 2-3 weeks. During this time the wine is mixed 4-5 times at the beginning and 2-3 times a day in the end. Depending on the grape variety and the year of harvest, we decide how long to leave the wine with the skin. We use different methods every time. According to the traditional method, after boiling the Qvevri was sealed for 6 months. The wine is released from the sediment a few times a year. The wine is kept in Qvevri for a whole year before bottling. The bottling is and labelling is also done manually. In my opinion, the more work we put into the winemaking and the vineyard the better wine you’ll get. We are members of the Georgian Natural Wine Association, which strictly controls both vineyard care processes and the quality and nature of the wine.