Natural wine made in Kvevri according to the traditional Georgian method.

Mission

Kvevries, these majestic clay vessels, which are such essential elements in the production of perfect wine, may soon perish. Even if it seems that Georgians are intensively supporting and maintaining their traditions, this is not strictly true.

Only five people in the whole country are able to make Kvevries, and in our intensive research we found only two skilled old men working on a highly professional basis.

One of them lives in Imereti, the high mountains of beautiful western Georgia, in a small village of Shrosha famous for centuries in making clay artifacts. He makes Kvevries exactly after the Georgian tradition that is thousands of years old. The extremely poor working conditions seem not to interfere with his work, because for him this handcraft is not only his livelihood but rather a life meaning: it is something he does with enormous love; he plays with these vessels like an artist with his sculptures and one cannot fail to be moved by the spectacle. He is a wise old man, deeply in love with his small village, friendly neighbours, small family and the memory of his wife.

The reality too, is that he has no apprentice, nobody who can preserve and further develop this skill. Georgia has a serious lack of young people interested in this craftsmanship.

The aim of the project is right here: we intend to support this handicraft however we can, by providing the Kvevri producer with good working conditions and students who are really interested in learning this handicraft and art. This old man is ready to share with seriously interested youngsters the deep knowledge and skills of these ancient traditions, in the knowledge that he will prevent the art of making Kvevri from dying out.

We as an organization are committed to preserving and further developing this handicraft: a real treasure of Georgia. Because we know that with the disappearance of Kvevries, the traditional Georgian wine-making method will be lost forever.

Goal

In order to avert a big cultural threat and maintain the wonderful inheritance of Georgia, we have decided to take on the responsibility of preserving and developing this unique craftsmanship – the art of making Kvevri.

Our work is not just to save this craftsmanship, it is also essential to preserve the 7000 year old tradition of Georgian wine making.