Why it matters
The producer
In 1994, twin brothers Gia and Gela Gamtkitsulashvili restored their grandfather's buried clay cellar in the Kakheti village of Napareuli and bottled a Qvevri wine commercially, the first time this had been done in modern Georgia. There was no amber wine category then, no international market for skin-contact whites, and no UNESCO recognition of qvevri as intangible heritage. The brothers labelled the bottles and sent them out anyway.
Formal commercial production followed in 1997. The winery now operates 135 buried clay qvevri, the smallest holding 50 litres and the largest 5 tons, across a 15-hectare holding where three hectares are farmed organically. Annual production reaches 250,000 litres. Wines export to Japan, Germany, England and China.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Napareuli sits in the Telavi district of Kakheti, Georgia's principal wine region, on the left bank of the Alazani river valley. Kakheti stretches from the eastern slopes of the Greater Caucasus down toward the valley floor, with the Alazani marking the boundary between the vine-planted hillsides and the wider agricultural plain.
The left-bank position gives Napareuli a relatively continental climate: warm, dry summers with significant diurnal temperature variation and cold winters. That swing between daytime heat and cool nights is central to Khikhvi's character. The grape ripens fully under the summer sun but retains the acidity and aromatic lift that give the finished wine its lemongrass and citrus register. Kakheti as a whole accounts for the majority of Georgian wine production and has been the centre of qvevri winemaking culture for several thousand years.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The 15-hectare holding is planted exclusively to indigenous Georgian varieties. Three hectares are farmed under organic and bio certification. The main grapes are Saperavi for the red range and Khikhvi, Kisi and Kakhuri Green for the white and amber lines. The variety named Napareuli after the village is also grown on the property.
In the Qvevri line, harvested grapes go into the buried clay vessels whole, with skins and sometimes stems. Fermentation begins naturally with ambient yeasts. The wine and its solids remain sealed inside the vessel, with beeswax applied to the rim, for up to six months. The surrounding earth holds the temperature between 14 and 16 degrees Celsius throughout. After ageing, the wine is pressed off the skins, clarified, and bottled without filtration.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range divides clearly into Qvevri and European-style bottlings. The Qvevri wines are amber and red wines made by the traditional skin-contact method; the European-style wines are white, rosé and red made by conventional temperature-controlled fermentation with or without barrel ageing.
Khikhvi Qvevri is the central bottle in the amber range. Khikhvi is a rare indigenous white grape from Kakheti that, after six months of skin contact in underground clay, produces a wine with tannins more typical of a medium-weight red than a white. The colour runs from deep gold to amber. Aroma moves between lemongrass, honey, herbal tea, apple and citrus. Tannin is firm and drying across the palate, supported by enough fruit concentration to carry it. The 2018 vintage layers oak, dried prune and spice on top of the base fruit, with a warm, velvety finish.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with Khikhvi Qvevri. Khikhvi is a white Kakheti grape that most drinkers will not have encountered before, and the qvevri method transforms it into something that defies the usual white-wine expectations. Six months of skin contact in buried clay produces a deep amber wine with firm, drying tannins, lemongrass and honey aromatics, and a long spiced finish. No residual sweetness, no oak character in the base style. Khikhvi Qvevri shows lemongrass, honey, herbal tea, citrus and apple, with a dry finish.