Chinuri-Goruli Mtsvane 2024

In the village of Samtavisi, with the Caucasus mountains lingering on the northern horizon, Mamuka Kikvadze nurtures grapes into terroir-driven wines rooted in the dististinctive Charmants terroir of Kartli. Mamuka is a painter, singer and winemaker. Mamuka often describes winemaking as another form of art. Painting, singing and making wine all begin with patience rather than control. The role of the artist is not to force the outcome, but to guide a process until something genuine emerges.

This dry white is made of two indigenous Georgian grapes: Chinuri and Goruli Mtsvane, grown on the Samtavisi Marani estate and then made with ancient methods using qvevri. Fermented in qvevri with skins and lees then aged in qvevri for 7 months, this wine is salty, dry and clean with apricot skin, dried orange peel and white floral notes.

A qvevri is a large clay vessel used to ferment, age, and store wine in Georgia for thousands of years. Picture a giant egg-shaped amphora — sealed with beeswax on the inside, buried underground up to its neck, and left to do its work slowly and naturally.

Long before he became a winemaker, Mamuka Kikvadze was an artist. Born in Guria in western Georgia, he grew up helping his grandfather make Chkhaveri in qvevri. Although he later moved to Tbilisi to study painting and the restoration of Orthodox icons, those early memories of harvest and fermentation never disappeared. Alongside painting, he cultivated another lifelong passion through Georgian polyphonic singing. Neither path seemed likely to lead to wine. That changed almost by accident.

In 2006, Mamuka and his wife, Lako Teneishvili, bought a house in the village of Samtavisi. Soon afterwards, a friend of his father offered him six rows of old Chinuri vines growing on a nearby hillside. He accepted the gift without knowing that these vines would shape the years to come. The first vintage was made in 2011. There was no marani yet, only stainless steel tanks in the house and a desire to understand what these old vines could express.

A chance meeting with the Jakeli brothers at Vino Underground in 2014 encouraged him to think more seriously about sharing his wines with others. Soon afterwards he met Soliko Tsaishvili, who encouraged Mamuka to explore spontaneous fermentation, qvevri winemaking and a more hands-off philosophy. As his understanding grew, so did the winery.

Three qvevri were installed in the house in 2016 before a dedicated underground marani was completed in 2019. New vineyards of Chinuri, Goruli Mtsvane, Sabatone Chinuri and Buza have since been planted, while the original old vines continue to shape the identity of the winery.

Today Samtavisi Marani farms 2.7 hectares of vineyards, producing a small range of wines that express both the landscape of Kartli and Mamuka's own quiet, thoughtful approach to winemaking. His background as an artist remains an important part of the winery. He designs the label for every wine by drawing an illustration, inspired by the very first aroma that rises from each wine during its first vintage. Rather than depicting grape varieties or vineyards, the illustrations capture the sensation of that first encounter, giving every wine its own visual identity.