Fifteen years ago, I left my homeland, Georgia, for the UK. I made the journey simply to visit my friends for a few months. Those few months turned into years. A new country, new environment, new emotions, and lots of adventure - of course, I got carried away and decided to stay!

 

Now five years have passed since the last time I set foot in my native land and this amount of time and distance has actually allowed me to rediscover my own country, its culture and its history, from a new perspective. It became clear to me that I could pursue my dreams in my small and troubled homeland.

 

Winemaking was what captivated me, but it proved difficult to make a permanent move back to Georgia quickly, so I decided instead to dedicate as much time as possible to my winery in Racha whenever I was visiting. My parents were there too, lending me a helping hand after moving to the countryside themselves.

 

Since then, I have married someone from the same region and who loves this land no less than me. We spent our honeymoon in Racha, and inspired by the astonishing views from our courtyard, we decided to share this beauty with others. This is how the whole idea of building the wine cellar and arranging the wine tasting space was born. We realised that we did not have any Qvevri (traditional large earthenware jars) to make the wine in, so we drove from Racha to Makatubani, in the middle of the night, to purchase some.This is how our first Qvevri were planted.

 

There is still a lot to do to reach our goal of building a proper agro-tourism site, but with lots of hard work, and dedication, not to mention the constant and vital support from our parents, we have achieved our dream - to create a space where guests can indulge themselves with natural wine, sparkling cider, Pet-Nut from our Qvevri, (authentic cousin) feast on home-cooked traditional Georgian food, and enjoy the stunning views from our vineyard.