Terroir - Georgia

Wine reflects both the place where it is produced and the expertise of the winemakers who produce it. This dialogue between nature and humankind is what we call the ‘terroir effect’.

Discover what gives this terroir its identity through five testimonials from winemakers from the Kakheti region:

Kakheti (კახეთი), Georgia (საქართველო): a wine region where tradition lives on

Kakheti (კახეთი) is the flagship wine region of Georgia (საქართველო), a small country on the Black Sea and the cradle of the world’s winemaking, where vines have been cultivated for 8,000 years. Wine and the vine are key elements of the country’s national identity. It is also a former Soviet republic that has been independent since 1991, and has had a turbulent history. The very oldest agricultural and winemaking traditions such as winemaking in ‘qvevris’ (large terracotta jars) – a practice that has now been listed as UNESCO cultural heritage – are still in active use here. It is also a breeding ground for original native grape varieties. Georgian winegrowing was in its death throes in around 2000, but has now enjoyed a revival combining centuries-old practices that have been reinvented with an openness to new practices and global markets, thanks to the installation of modern winery facilities. Whilst Georgia remains an agricultural country of subsistence farming, where every farmer has a few acres of vines and wine is still heavily embedded in religious practices, the Kakheti region is also a place of modern operations.