Chateau Buera, founded by Goga Maisuradze, has always adhered to the belief that quality wine requires quality grapes, aiming to produce high-quality local wine from the very beginning.
In 2024, Chateau Buera's Rkatsiteli harvest has officially been awarded organic certification.
What journey did the company undergo to achieve vineyard certification? We spoke with Ana Maisuradze and Sandro Kurdadze to learn more.
Q: When was Chateau Buera’s vineyard established?
Our vineyard was established in 2012. The idea was to provide visitors to the center of Kakheti, one of its micro-zones, with the opportunity to taste locally made wine. My father was a wine enthusiast, and his life was closely tied to wine. He had a great desire to integrate wine into the hospitality sector. Today, we are pleased that guests can come specifically to taste our wine.
Q: Why did you decide to certify your vineyard?
The primary goal of organic certification is to produce quality wine. However, since our vineyard is in the middle of a resort area, where people of all ages frequently visit, we thought that organic farming would be healthier for them. Additionally, there is a horse stable near the vineyard, and you might often see our ponies or foals in the vineyard. In the future, we aim to achieve an “Eco Friendly” official status, and of course, the vineyard’s organic status is essential for this.
In reality, the vineyard is everything; over 50% of the result comes from it. You can't make high-quality wine from medium or low-quality grapes. Therefore, if you aim to produce wine that can age well, keep itself properly, and be enjoyable, vineyard care is necessary.
Q: What challenges did you face during the vineyard certification process?
Transitioning a vineyard to organic certification is a complex process everywhere and always. The vineyard needs to develop immunity. In our case, Rkatsiteli was already maintained to organic standards from the start, so there were fewer difficulties. However, we had some small problems with the other vineyard areas, but we overcame them. Next year, we plan to certify Kisi, Kakhuri Green, and Saperavi as well.
Q: What advice would you give to novice viticulturists?
The main challenges arise in the first two years when transitioning a vineyard from conventional to organic practices. When converting an older vineyard to organic, you might encounter issues that could make it better to start anew. When you maintain a vineyard with organic standards from the beginning, it is much stronger, with deeper roots and better immunity.
Viticulture should be viewed with a long-term perspective; otherwise, planning this work is difficult.
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