schiller-wine: At Mosmieri Winebar and Shop in Tbilisi, with Château Mosmieri Owner Joerg Matthies

Pictures: At Mosmieri Winebar and Shop in Tbilisi, with Château Mosmieri Owner Joerg Matthies - Georgia Wine Tour 2019

Joerg Matthies: At Mosmieri we see ourselves as a driving part of the fascinating nascent story of Georgia’s vinicultural comeback to the international market. As Georgia’s wine future is certainly not in mass production we position ourselves in the premium segment where class is what matters. We are dedicated to use only local grape varieties historically grown in the Georgian region of Kakheti.

Our winery is an integral part of a wine touristic chateau designed in Georgian traditional style with modern elements. It is situated within vineyards and sits on a gentle slope overlooking the beautiful Alazani Valley and facing the snow-capped mountain range of the Great Caucasus. Apart from the wineries there is a large restaurant with bar for 250 persons, facilities for masterclasses (e.g. breadbaking in tone), a nice courtyard with cloister and fountain, a large lounge terrace, a watching tower, a wine store with winetasting area and a spacious storage rooms in the basement. Next to the existing complex we will soon start building a hotel with 23 comfortable rooms and an outdoor swimmingpool.

Our brand is named Mosmieri. In old-Georgian language this word stands for a person who drinks and appreciates wine. Welcome to our club.

We had contact with Mosmieri at different occasions during the tour.

First, on the last day, the group had lunch at Mosmieri Winebar abd Shop in the middle of old town Tbilisi. Mosmieri Founder, Owner and General Director Joerg Matthies, a citizen of Germany who has been in Georgia since 2009, was our host. Joerg Matthies fell in love with the country and wine. Joerg is the mastermind and driving force behind the Mosmieri project.

Second, in the Kakheti Region, some of us stayed at Mosmieri Hotel and Winery. Annette and I stayed at Schuchme Hotel and Winery, but we drove by Mosmieri Hotel and Winery several times with the bus to pick up or leave there those who stayed there.

Third, those who stayed at Mosmieri Hotel and Winery bought two Mosmieri wines and presented them to the rest of us during the stop at Alaverdi Monastery.

Annette and I spent a week in Georgia, the small country that used to be part of the Soviet Union, located between the Black See and the Caspian See. The area is considered to be the birthplace of wine. Research indicates that wine has been made in Georgia for 8000 years. There are over 500 indigenous grape varieties in Georgia. Traditionally, wine in Georgia has been made (fermented and aged) in amphoras burried in the ground.

This was a group-tour of the Collegium Vini, an association of wine lovers in the Frankfurt/ Germany area, of which we are members. The tour was organized by GEORGIENREISEN. Co-owner Tea Totogashvili was our guide. The focus of the tour was on culture and wine.

See here for an overview posting: Georgia Wine Tour 2019: Discovering the Birthplace of Wine

Wine in Georgia

Georgia is located in an area that is considered to be the birthplace of wine. Research indicates that wine has been made in Georgia for 8000 years. There are over 500 indigenous grape varieties in Georgia. Traditionally, wine in Georgia has been made (fermented and aged) in amphoras burried deep in the ground.

Georgia is a small, Christian country with a difficult history. In particular, it was part of the Russian Zsar's Empire. During that period the influence of French winemaking and French cuisine was important. More recently, Georgia was part of the Soviet Union. During the Soviet Union period Georgia was the chief provider of wine for the whole country.This was essentially low-cost mass wine shipped in tanks to all regions of the Soviet Union and bottled there. There was no commercial qvevri winemaking during the Soviet Union period. The commercial sector was dominated by huge stainless steel tanks to produce sweet-style wines.

After the break-up of the Soviet Union and various conflicts between Russia and Georgia, the Georgian wine sector has been adjusting to the new market conditions. The production of inexpensive, often sweet-style wines for Russia and other neighboring countries remains important.

At the same time, the amber wine revolution has discovered Georgia and Georgia has become an important player in the natural wine scene, including in New York, Berlin, London etc. But quevri wines account only for 3% of Georgia's wine exports. Still, they account for 100% of the buzz.

Tradionally, both red and white wine have been fermented and aged in quevris, burried in the ground for temperature control purposes. Basically each family in Georgia has a quevri where they make there wine in this ancient method. Typically, quevri wines are no-sulfur wines with natural yeast only. Whole-bunch fermentation is the rule.

While the buzz is about the hard-core qvevri winemaking where the grapes are fermented with their skins, pips and stems and aged for an extensive period in a qvevri, you also find winemakers that combine the traditional Georgian approach with modern approaches like aging in barrels or fermenting in qvevris but without skins, pips and stems. In fact, there is a whole range of quevri winemaking.

Interestingly, not once went a winemaker with us to the vineyard and we did not have one single-vineyard wine in Georgia. In general it seems that vineyard issues are on the backburner in Georgia.

Lunch At Mosmieri Winebar and Shop in Tbilisi, with Château Mosmieri Owner Joerg Matthies

Mosmieri Winebar and Shop is a brandnew undertaking of Joerg Matthies as part of Mosmieri. Some of us stayed at the Mosmieri Hotel and we all tasted the wines on the bus. The construction of the winery was completed in 2017. There is actually a modern winery using state-of-the-art temperature controlled stainless steel tanks and there is a classic Georgian winery called Marani with 24 big clay vessels set into the ground. At present, the total capacity of winemaking is 160 tons in tanks and qvevri which allows us to produce up to 140,000 bottles of wine annually. For aging we use French oak barrels which we sourced in Burgundy.

Pictures: At Mosmieri Winebar and Shop in Tbilisi, with Château Mosmieri Owner Joerg Matthies - Georgia Wine Tour 2019

Staying at Mosmieri Hotel and Winery

Château Mosmieri: Georgia is the world’s oldest winemaking region where it all began some 8000 years ago. Since ancient times love to the wine has been deeply rooted in the cultural values, beliefs and customs of the Georgian people. From here viniculture started spreading around the globe.

Nowadays Georgian wine has again become a real discovery and a genuine paradise for anyone longing for something above and beyond ordinary taste and quality. Apart from its still chiefessays.net existing unique technique of winemaking in clay vessels – qvevri – Georgia is home to more than 500 autochthonous varieties of grapes such as Saperavi, Rkatsiteli, Kisi, Mtsvane.

With ancient and modern winemaking equipment these varieties of grapes produce wines with aromas and tastes unknown anywhere else on earth. No wonder that Georgia has become a hot spot for winemaking creativity and palatable discoveries.

At Mosmieri we see ourselves as a driving part of the fascinating nascent story of Georgia’s vinicultural comeback to the international market. As Georgia’s wine future is certainly not in mass production we position ourselves in the premium segment where class is what matters. We are dedicated to use only local grape varieties historically grown in the Georgian region of Kakheti.

Our winery is an integral part of a wine touristic chateau designed in Georgian traditional style with modern elements. It is situated within vineyards and sits on a gentle slope overlooking the beautiful Alazani Valley and facing the snow-capped mountain range of the Great Caucasus. Apart from the wineries there is a large restaurant with bar for 250 persons, facilities for masterclasses (e.g. breadbaking in tone), a nice courtyard with cloister and fountain, a large lounge terrace, a watching tower, a wine store with winetasting area and a spacious storage rooms in the basement. Next to the existing complex we will soon start building a hotel with 23 comfortable rooms and an outdoor swimmingpool.

Our brand is named Mosmieri. In old-Georgian language this word stands for a person who drinks and appreciates wine. Welcome to our club.

Pictures: Staying at Mosmieri Hotel and Winery

Tasting Mosmieri Wines Before the Visit of the Alaverdi Monastery

itineray.com: Alaverdi Monastery is a Georgian Eastern Orthodox monastery located 25 km from Akhmeta, in the Kakheti region of Eastern Georgia. While parts of the monastery date back to 6th century, the present day cathedral was built in the 11th century by Kvirike III of Kakheti, replacing an older church of St. George.

Before touring the monastery, we tasted some Mosmieri wines.