Makaridze Winery

Terjola, Imereti

Giorgi Makaridze is based in Terjola, which located in the Imereti Lowlands in western Georgia, on the right bank of the Chkhara river. The town sits around 170 m above sea level but Makaridze’s 25 year old vines grow on slopes of 250-300m elevation, where soils are clay over limestone. He currently has Tsitska, Tsolikauri and Otskhanuri Sapere(red varietal). Fruit is harvested between early to mid-October and all the wines are made in qvevri. Tsitska is more delicate varietal; thin skinned, late ripening and more difficult to grow that Tsolikauri, which tends to be more robust, bigger leaves, higher yield, thicker skins.

Gogita's family has a long history of agriculture in Terjola. They have always cultivated grapes but mostly to sell as cuttings and wine was only made for home consumption. Their family marani was located outside as is tradition in Imereti. The region is particularly well regarded for grape cultivation with 90% of the village being involved in viticulture. Interestingly Gogita's family has a long history of blending white and red grapes for fermentation to lighten up Otskhanuri Sapere which is unique not only to the village of Terjola but also Georgia as a whole (albeit very hip right now…)

The marani is also located in the village of Terjola which contains a total of 18 kvevris that have a total capacity of 15 tonnes. Gogita has very old winemaking equipment that has been passed down through generations in his family plus also works with modern winemaking equipment that was granted to him when he created the Terjola Wine Cooperative in 2014. There are a total of 7 local farmers all working naturally who share the facilities with Gogita in Terjola.