Wine cellar
«Chateau Fort de Manavi» – as befits a castle, is located east of the capital on a historically important, strategic direction: the capital of Tbilisi – the region of Georgia Kakheti – the Georgian-Azerbaijan border. And now at the intersection of very popular tourist routes: 50 km from Tbilisi — the capital of Georgia, 20 km to the famous caves of the rock monastery David Gareji, 50 km to Sighnaghi — the famous city of lovers with its stunning views of the Alazani Valley, 90 km to Lagodekhi National Reserve, 120 km to the border with Azerbaijan.
«Chateau Fort de Manavi» is a classic example of Georgian architecture built in the traditional Georgian style: a lot of natural raw river stone, natural wood, marani for storing wine in qvevri, according to traditional Georgian technology. On the territory there are all the most common trees in Kakheti – pomegranate, fig, persimmon, quince, medlar, dogwood and a special pride of the owners — the vineyard.
According to traditional Kakheti technology grapes harvested in late September or early October are pressed together with seeds, peel and twigs into large ceramic jugs — qvevri. Qvevri made of local Manavian clay and treated with beeswax inside and slaked lime outside are buried in the ground. Due to the fact that qvevri are dug into the ground, a stable temperature inside them is about 14-15 degrees. Wine material (pulp) directly with peels, bones and twigs roams there for 3-4 months. The chemical consequence of this technology is that a lot of extractive substances go into wine from skins, seeds and twigs of grapes. Then the liquid is drained and sent for storage. As the result — the taste is more strong, tart and rich than in wines prepared according to European technologies. Kakhetian wines have a higher percentage of polyphenols and therefore they are considered healthier.
It is known that the taste and properties of wine are influenced by the variety of grapes, the place of its growth and the production technology. That is why Georgian wines are interesting. Thanks to traditional Kakhetian technology the taste of our wines is very different from European.
