Iago Bitarishvili Chinuri 2023

"I believe that everything natural is always better than anything artificial. This is a part of truth and reality. When you do this, it is an expression of your faith. It is not a marketing gimmick. And then it doesn’t matter how many people tell you that you should do it differently. You still do it your own way” Iago Bitarishvili

Almost every single family in Georgia makes wine in qvevri but under the Soviet regime, it became illegal to bottle and sell, so Iago did not start to do this till 2003. He has always worked organically here and has always been passionate about preserving the local traditions, never being even slightly seduced by modern professional techniques. He is, therefore, a bona fide wine maker although that is a complete contradiction in terms as in Georgia, it is believed that nature and the great clay jugs make the wine.

Man is just a facilitator; moving things around and making sure that everything has exactly what it needs to function happily and healthily. Iago works with only one variety – Chinuri – although he makes two versions of it; one with skin contact and one without. It is only the wine made without which is pressed by foot. With the skin contact wine, there is only gentle crushing before the whole bunches are surrendered to the clay. His skin contact white goes into qvevri for 3 – 6 months.