Archil Guniavi
Archil Guniava is the owner and operator of this small Georgian winery, located in the picturesque village of Kvaliti, in the Imereti region of Georgia. Resting at 300 meters above sea level in the hills of the Imereti, the region's climate and soil structure offer ideal conditions for growing grapes, with the humid air from the Black Sea moving inland and the flowing Kvirila River located just north of the winery. The climate in this part of Imereti is subtropical, warm rather than hot, and quite humid in the summer. The soils are clay over limestone, this latter feature giving the wines their particular freshness and vitality.
The Guniava family has been making traditional Georgian wine for generations, farming local grape varietals including solikauri, Tsitska, Krakhuna, Otskhanuri Sapere, Dzelshavi, Dondghlabi and Mgaloblishvili, the latter two being very rare and whose reputation Archil is dedicated to restoring. With just 1.5 hectares of vineyards in all, production is tiny, and only about 18,000 bottles are produced annually. All grapes are grown organically and all vineyard work is done manually. Archil uses old Qvevris that have been in his family for generations for his vinifications. Grapes are harvested by hand, destemmed and crushed into the beeswax-lined qvevri that are buried in the cellar. Ferments are indigenous and all wines undergo natural malolactic fermentation and are bottled without filtration, fining, and only minimal amounts of sulfur.
