Long before “natural wine” became a movement, Georgians were already doing it.

In a feature for the Australian Financial Review, drinks columnist Max Allen makes the case that Georgia isn’t just participating in the natural wine conversation- it invented it. For eight thousand years, winemakers here have relied on the same indigenous grapes, the same clay vessels called qvevri, and the same philosophy of minimal intervention. Even during the Soviet era, when large state-owned wineries dominated production, Georgian villagers were tending their own small plots and make wine by hand. The result is a tradition that the rest of the wine world has spent decades trying to replicate.

Allen’s article traces the thread from ancient Kakhetian villages to the international natural wine fairs where Georgian producers are now commanding serious attention. Our producers in the Saperavi Brothers portfolio connect with this tradition with minimal intervention, indigenous varieties, and a deep respect for what Georgian winemakers have been doing long before it had a name.

Click below to read the full article from the Australian Financial Review: