Georgia is the oldest wine-producing country in the world and scientists suspect that the Samtskhe-Javakheti region with the historical name Meskheti is the birthplace of this wine culture.
Meskheti was occupied for 4 centuries by the Ottomans (Turks). They destroyed vineyards and wine villages, destroyed many local endemic grape varieties. A few years ago Giorgi Natenadze decided to look for the ancient Meskhetian vines, he studied, identified the grapes and now grows them.
... "Over the past decade, I have traveled through mountain forests looking for old vines that grow in trees, as nature intended. I have found a number of vines that are more than 100 years old, some of which I think are even older. I have discovered 40 rare grape varieties in the south of the country, close to the border with Turkey, of which I have so far been able to identify only 24 varieties. In the wine cellar Natenadze I make different wines every year from this old varieties.
In this region this is the first wine production after the 16th century. I collect most of the grapes in forests and old destroyed villages. The grape trees are usually more than one to two hundred years old. The oldest is more than four centuries old and still produces grapes from which we make wine. I actually make wine from wild grapes that grow in the volcanic mountains. Everything is wild and natural "...
The grapes grow at a height of a minimum of 1000 and a maximum of 1650 m. The production of this "wild wine" is very limited. We produce a maximum of 1200 bottles of different grapes per year. when you taste Meskhuri wine, you experience the entire Meskhetian happeningsis en legendes en de absoluut unieke verschillende aroma's.