Patara Marani

There comes a moment when you reflect on the past and realize that walking on a completely new and, at that time, still uncharted path has forever connected your family with today’s activity: viticulture and winemaking.

In 2003, my family and I presented a project called the “Georgian Vine Festival” within a grant competition announced by the World Bank. The goal of the project was to study grape varieties, vineyards, and farm wines produced throughout the entire territory of Georgia. We aimed to provide assistance to winegrowers in organizing their farms and selling wines, in order to preserve rare Georgian varieties and encourage the century's old tradition of winemaking. At that time, no wine and grape festival was held in Georgia. Within the framework of my family’s project, there was a laboratory inspection of vineyards and wines, and we visited 134 farmers in all regions. After research and study, only 27 farmers’ wines and vineyards met the international standard, and the selected wines were first bottled and prepared for sale. In 2004, the project was concluded with the first “Georgian Vine Festival” in Georgia, which was held at the Ethnographic Museum in Tbilisi. During the festival, a team of professionals conducted degustation and identified the three best farm wines out of the 27 wines submitted.

A team of professionals was involved in implementing the project, including the head of the winemaking department, the elderly Mr. Giorgi Tushmalishvili. He had an immense love for viticulture and winemaking. He effortlessly shared and conveyed this passion to us, teaching us things that couldn’t be learned from books: the taste of wine, its color, body, smell, vineyard leaves, claret, and even details about the life cycle of the vine. During the tastings, he would take me aside and ask about my emotions and feelings. I would respond with a silent smile and cheer, as he believed that I would become a good winemaker and an even better winegrower.