The wines of Kapistoni Winery

Kapistoni Winery is a small, young wine business from the Georgian province of Kartli, close to the capital Tbilisi. Kapistoni is the life's work of Niko Chochishvili, who remigrated from the United States in 2010. Winemaking was initially a 'side job', but Niko is deeply passionate - winemaking is his calling. In 2017 he had a wine cellar built, and since then his passion has become his life's work. He makes natural wines in qvevri, clean and pure. He uses grape varieties that are rare even in Georgia.

Check out our 8 wines made by Kapistoni Winery

'Kapistoni!' That was the exclamation of Niko Chochishvili's grandfather whenever he got a really good wine in his glass, and he would know, since grandpa was a winemaker by trade. Niko had wanted to become a winemaker his whole life too, and by a roundabout route he eventually found his calling.

Niko emigrated as a teenager with his parents to the United States in 1993. He went to high school there, followed by a military university. He became an American citizen and a career soldier in the US Army.

Still, blood will out. In 2010, Niko returned to his homeland. At his country house not far from the capital Tbilisi, he took up winemaking - there were still old qvevri buried in the cellar. And a lot of studying, a whole lot of studying, since although almost every man in Georgia makes wine, making really good wine every single year is truly a craft.

In 2017 he took a big step: he had his own wine cellar built, with a few dozen qvevri, so he could make enough wine to make a living from it. Alongside his own vineyards he started leasing a few more, so he could grow enough grapes to fill his qvevri. Niko works mainly with grapes from the Kartli region, such as Chinuri, Shavkapito and Tavkveri, and rare varieties like Danakharuli and Budeshuri Saperavi. One grape Niko doesn't yet have in his vineyard is the Kapistoni - he only discovered it after naming his winery that: Kapistoni is a (very rare) Georgian grape.

For Niko it comes down to three things: good equipment and technology, hygiene in the cellar, and love for the craft. Niko is a spiritual man. In his philosophy, as a winemaker you connect with nature in the vineyard and give love to the ripening wine. Only that way can you keep making better wine every year than the year before. We currently have eight wines from Kapistoni Winery in our range. You can view all our wines from Kapistoni Winery here.

If you want to know more about this winery, here you will find the link to the website of Kapistoni Winery.