Kereselidze Wine Cellar

Racha, Western Georgia

Apolon Kereselidze is a viticulturist and winemaker who founded Kereselidze Wine Cellar in 2016. The Kereselidze family has been making wine in Racha for more than 200 years but it was only with the founding of Kereselidze Wine Cellar that winemaking became a business.

Apolon has been protecting and preserving the rare indigenous grape varieties that his family has cultivated over generations: Rachuli Mtsvane and Rachuli Tetra. The vineyard is located in a small village called Dzirageuli which is in Racha in Western Georgia. It is 650m above sea level and sits just adjacent to the marani. The vines are currently  roughly 55 years old. The soil is heavy clay with rocky limestone subsoil.

When ruled by the Soviet Union, Georgia, and in particular Racha, saw many of its indigenous grape varieties go extinct and be replaced mostly by Tsolikouri. Tsolikouri, which is a great variety in its own right, had better yields causing it to be a Soviet favourite. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Racha, which is a poor region, saw many families leave to the capital Tbilisi to find work abandoning their vineyards. Simultaneously, many vineyards were lost and converted to industrial farming.

The marani is located on the first floor of Apolon’s home and although there are old kvevri inside which are approximately 200 years old, they are no longer in use. This region gets cold at harvest time and fermentation in kvevri buried underground made it difficult to complete a healthy fermentation. Apolon currently works exclusively with stainless steel tanks and although modern in that regard, they still maintain the use of their 200 year old satsnakheli (wine press) which is hollowed from the trunk of a linden tree.

In the late 2000s there was a large market demand for red varieties and lots more vineyards were replanted to capitalise on the demand from the Russian market. Despite all this, the Kereselidze family has stayed true to their roots, continuing to protect their ancient vineyards and grapes and thereby preserving their unique family history.