Tedo Papa's winery, a little but very good winery of Georgia

Another small winery, which I visited in Georgia, was the Tedo Papa winery, which lies between Tblisi and Telavi, in the Khashmi village, in the Kakheti region.

I Just get in this winery thanks to our guide, Misho Davitelashvili, as There is almost no information about winery locations.

There we were greeted by Otto Menabdishvili and his friendly grandmother Manana, a very active lady who spoke only or Georgian.

Otto inherited his grandfather's winery, which taught him everything about wine making. That is why the winery has the name of his grandfather.

The grandson also attended the university in Tblisi, where he received updated information on wine production.

Otto undertook a comprehensive renovation of the abandoned cellar, then producing wine again in 2018.

He told me that the grapes are picked and selected manually and then placed in the kvevri.

Its annual production is 200 bottles of the Rkatsiteli white grape. This is a very popular grape in the region.

This winery uses traditional Georgia methods.

After fermentation, the wine must stays in contact with the skins for a week. After that the wine remains in the kvevri until bottling.

Red wine is made with the Khashmi Saperavi grape and 200 bottles are produced per year.

It is said that King Tamar of Georgia ordered the cultivation of the Saperavi grape in the Khashmi region because there is the best region for the production of Saperavi wines!

The wine must is in contact with the skins for 10 days, after fermentation and also continues in Kvevri.

The friendly lady Manana made delicious Cachapuris to welcome us and accompany the tasting of her wines.

She also explained how to get the wine out of the kvevri.

In the past, they used a mug attached to 3 sticks, two of them held the mug and removed the wine from the kvevri. The third stick, in turn, rotated the mug to place the wine taken from the kvevri, inside another vase.

I tasted both wines and found them aromatic, dry and balanced. Amber wine is drier, but lighter and easier to drink than others I've tasted in Georgia, probably because it spends less time with the skins.

Otto receives visits to his winery and charges 15 Iaris, (5 Us $), including tasting of his 2 wines and Chacha (distilled from grape skin, such as grappa).

Its marketing process is in the cellar itself. The labels are written only in Georgian. Otto told me that he is reformulating the labels to facilitate marketing.

Mrs. Manana was very kind and on the way out she presented us with apples, peaches and pomegranates, which really touched me!

The people of Georgia are extremely kind!



There is a video on youtube where Otto tells the story of how he built his winery. It was considered the best small winery in Georgia:
https://1tv.ge/video/artishoki-fermis-agrogmiris-19-wlis-oto-menabdishvilis-mier-aghdgenili-papis-marani-da-qvevrshi-dayenebuli-khashmis-saferavi/?fbclid=IwAR0EKQxHhFHoAXWpfjYXRmRcF72HVH6OFYbxYFXC0OtysFH_UUyWEG7aOIM