The Shumi Winery #155
The impressive scale of Georgian culture and wine
The Shumi Winery is located in the village of the historical region of Georgian winemaking Kakheti – Tsinandali. It borders the National Park and Museum after Al. Chavchavadze. The land, on which the Winery and the Tourist Complex are located, at different times belonged to Georgian and Kakhetian kings, Prince Alexander Chavchavadze family, and then became part of the summer residence of Russian Emperor Alexander III.
This area became a rocky shore as a result of a flood in 1865. Our team cleared and drained the marshy area. As a result, today a unique Tourist Complex has been built on more than 9 hectares, which has no analogues in the world both in its infrastructure and in terms of maintenance. You will not find so many examples of Georgian culture collected in one space as in Shumi: the world’s largest private Comprehensive Varietal Collection Vineyard, the First Wine Museum in Georgia, the Decorative Garden, which presents sculptures made by famous Georgian and international artists, the Marani, the Enoteca, the Georgian Ethnographic Pavilion, the Gastronomic zone with a restaurant, cafes, terraces, tasting areas and much more.
Reviving traditions and autonomous varieties
Highly qualified specialists working on the basis of the Shumi Collection Vineyard for many years rediscovered many varieties in the collection. To return them to production, the company planted industrial vineyards. The company offers customers unique wines made from this rare grape variety. Some of them, revived by Shumi, were moved to the richest Georgian ampelographic gene pool along with unique wine grape varieties as completely individual varieties with great oenological potential. For the preparation of the exclusive Shumi’s alcoholic beverages in some cases more than 450 varieties are used, and the Shumi Wine Company produces wine from 16 varieties of grapes.
Taking care of the environment:"green vintage", organic, biodynamic
Work on the best wine production in the vineyards begins with diligent care of the vineyards, where most of the work is done manually throughout the year – every decision made in the management of the vineyard is further reflected in the quality of the wine. Shumi has a modest attitude to the environment, so it makes only small interventions in the local ecosystem and helps to preserve the natural flora and fauna. The use of pesticides is minimized, while some vineyards use bio- and biodynamic methods.
Shumi is the first company in Georgia that produces bio-wine and uses a biodynamic method of grape care. Also, for the first time in the history of Georgian viticulture, the “green vintage” method was used.
Georgia has ancient traditions of viticulture and empirical experience. Agrotechnical measures for the care of vines have been developed and improved for thousands of years. And we use the experience accumulated over the centuries in the cultivation and care of our own vineyards. The best example is the vineyard of the Georgian Saperavi variety called “Salome”, cultivated in the Napareuli microzone in 1997, which we managed biomethods until 2012, and then began to cultivate it by biodynamic methods. Along with the world experience of biodynamic agriculture, traditional agrotechnical measures of Georgia are used here for growing grapes. The company produces exclusive, limited production of “Salome” wine only in the best years for harvesting. The authors of this unique wine technology are the famous French winemaker Jean-Michel Ferrande and the Georgian winemaker Giorgi Khatiashvili.
Shumi also produces “Iberiuli Bio Saperavi”, “Georgika Bio Qvevri Rkatsiteli”, “Vinobiza Premium Bio Saperavi”, Bio Chacha – National High Alcoholic Beverage and others. The Shumi Wine Cellar stores organic wines from the 2008 harvest to the present day, which have the potential to age for more than half a century.
Grapes are harvested in the Shumi’s vineyards only by hand, in small baskets, in the coldest period of the day. It goes through double sorting before processing. This work is also done manually. From grapes grown in this way, wines of the best quality are made, which maximally convey the character of the Shumi’s terroir.
Qvevri’s wine making method
For the manufacture of alcoholic beverages, the method of making the oldest Georgian traditional wine in Qvevri is used, as well as the latest methods of world winemaking. One of the most challenging aspects of Qvevri’s wine making method is compliance with sanitary standards, as the use of all chemicals to wash the jug is prohibited. Qvevri is washed only with products made from different plants with antiseptic properties and requires specific knowledge of the washer.
Shumi participates in an international project aimed at promoting abroad the traditional Georgian method of making wine in Qvevri, which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013.
The Qvevri Cellar Museum was established at Plumpton College in the UK with the participation of Shumi.
The author of many Shumi’s innovations and inventions – also offers a wide range of Qvevri wines. For example, Shumi created a Qvevri sparkling wine “Shobili”, combining 8000-year-old traditions of Georgian winemaking and 400-year-old production of champagne; “Barbale” is the world’s only ice wine produced in Qvevri and made from 102 grape varieties of the Shumi Collection Vineyard.
Reviews
“Each grape variety is a historical monument. It is our duty to preserve them for future generations. “Shumi Winery” makes a great contribution to the protection and preservation of the gene pool of Georgian grapes. On my recommendation, in 2003 the company planted a collection vineyard, thereby saving dozens of Georgian rare varieties from extinction.”
Shumi winery is one of our best experiences in Georgia. This place is absolutely amazing with a very gentle and welcoming staff. Our guide at the winery was very knowledgeable and he explained everything in great detail.
Overall this place is a must visit!
This place is amazing!
Our tour guide was a friendly and very professional man, he showed us around explaining everything about this winery, the traditional Georgian wine making history and culture and after the tour answered all our questions! There was nothing he didn’t know.
After the tour we decided to do a wine tasting and were offered a perfect combo to taste the difference between the European method and the Georgian one. Again we got a very interesting explanation of each wine. It was so tasty and interesting that we decided to come back in the evening for a Khinkali master-class.
In the evening at the master-class we had a very nice lady showing us everything. It was a friendly and funny way to see how the Khinkalis are made and to find out about some traditions of Georgia and Kakheti itself.
After the master-class we were offered to try their first ice-wine made in Qvevri and it tastes so good that we bought a bottle to bring home.
It was really an amazing experience and I would suggest it to everyone!