Avtandil
Avtandil founded the marani in Kardenakhi and follows every wine from the vineyard to the bottle.
KardenakhiKakhetiGeorgia
A marani in Kardenakhi
Even the village name speaks of the vine: linguist Guram Bedoshvili traces Kardenakhi (or Kardanakhi) to two joined words, kart venakhi, the second of them meaning “vineyard”.
Our marani is in Kardenakhi, Kakheti, where old tradition meets modern winemaking.
Donovan Driver, CC BY-SA 2.0 Our own vineyards only
Our premium wines use only grapes from our own vineyards in Akhoebi and Tsarapi.
Jelger Groeneveld, CC BY 2.0 Two methods, one cellar
Qvevri and European wines, from the same vineyards, in the same marani.
Two methods
Two microzones
rugbyxm, CC BY 2.0 Akhoebi
Akhoebi 2024, Saperavi in qvevri: Bronze, Georgian International Wine Award 2026.
Vladimir Pankratov, CC BY-SA 4.0 Tsarapi
Tsarapi 2024: Grand Gold at the Bolnisi PDO Wine Festival 2026, and a ticket to the Merano Wine Festival in Italy.
Location
Gurjaani municipality, above the Alazani valley. Both microzones and the marani are here.
41.6722° N · 45.8869° E
Kardenakhi village, Gurjaani municipality, Kakheti, Georgia
Open the mapOne grape, two paths
Grapes from the very same vineyard, turned by the qvevri and European methods into two completely different wines.
Bernard Gagnon, CC BY 4.0 The traditional Georgian method
Qvevri
The juice ferments and rests with its skins in a clay qvevri buried in the ground.
- Vessel
- Clay qvevri in the ground
- Skin contact
- Skins and seeds
- Duration
- 3–7 months on skins
- In the glass
- Structure, tannin, a long finish
Cjp24, CC BY-SA 4.0 The European method
European
The juice leaves the skins at once, settles, and ferments clean.
- Vessel
- Tank
- Skin contact
- None
- Duration
- Settling, then fermentation
- In the glass
- Fresh, fruity, lighter body
An 8,000-year tradition
Since 2013 the qvevri method has been on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Why both
For each grape we choose the method that shows it best.