ქვევრი · Qvevri
One vessel. Eight thousand years.
How Georgia has made wine since before writing, told in one scroll.
Scroll
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01Clay
Shaped by hand
A qvevri begins as a coil of clay. The potter builds it ring by ring, a few centimetres a day, letting each layer firm up before the next. A large vessel takes months to grow.
ცეცხლი
02Fire
Fired and lined
Days in a wood kiln turn the clay to terracotta. While it is still warm, the inside is coated with beeswax, which seals the pores yet still lets the wine breathe.
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03Earth
Buried to the neck
The qvevri is set into the cellar floor. The earth around it holds a steady, cool temperature through fermentation and ageing. No machinery required.
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04Harvest
Everything the vineyard gave
Crushed Kisi grapes go in with their skins, seeds and often stems. Wild yeasts start the ferment, and the wine draws colour, aroma and structure from all of it.
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05Time
Six months of quiet
Sealed under a stone lid, the wine rests on its skins through the winter. That long contact is what turns a white grape amber and gives it a gentle, tea-like tannin.
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06Glass
From earth to glass
Eight thousand years ago this was the first wine anyone made. The same clay, the same patience, and the wine that was born in it is now in your glass.
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07Cheers
Gaumarjos
The Georgian toast. It means victory, and it is raised to the people at the table, not to the wine.
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08Amber
Amber
100% Kisi, fermented and aged in qvevri. Dried apricot, walnut, honey and tea-like tannin, with a long, warm finish.