Teleda Wine Cellar
by
Kathy Sullivan
Summary: Teleda, a maker of qvevri wines, offers a lovely experience with a dedicated tasting room adjacent to the qvevri room. This is a small family winery concentrating on creating quality qvevri wines.
Teleda Wine Cellar is a relatively new boutique winery with a young winemaker, Temuri Dakishvili, who has already established a reputation as one of Georgia’s winemaker rock stars. The winery owners are focusing on the quality of the wines produced. Temuri is the 4th generation winemaker in his family. Currently Temuri’s father is a winemaker at a nearby winery.
Visitors to Teleda will discover the winery housed in a stone building with a red clay tile roof. Although relatively new, the building style reflects the old world architecture of buildings.
Qvevri Room Activities
Inside the marani (wine cellar), the qvevris are located in a dedicated qvevri room. On the day of our visit there was a flurry of activity. Workers were getting ready to remove the chacha (pomace) from a qvevri. Before this can be done safely, the qvevri must be degassed. At Teleda, to remove the gas from inside the qvevri, workers burn a piece of cardboard in a bucket. They 
lower the bucket down into the qvevri. The fire burns off the harmful gases. At this point, a ladder is placed into the qvevri and a worker climbs down into the qvevri and fills a bucket with chacha. The bucket is handed up to someone who places the chacha into a basket press. This process continues until the chacha had been removed.
At Teleda, the winemaker presses the chacha for any remaining wine. After pressing in a basket press the chacha resembles a large very dry cake. The chacha is then distilled to make Chacha, a high alcohol grappa-like drink. Wine that was pressed is returned to a clean qvevri to age and clarify.
Currently wines are sold only in Georgia but Teleda wines will become available in European nations. It was noted at the winery that in competitions people are saying qvevri wines are the best. Also, before reusing qvevri for winemaking, the qvevri must be cleaned. One method is to clean it with a solution of sulfur or a solution of lime.
Vita Vinea Vineyard
Teleda’s vineyard is close to the winery. The name of the Teleda vineyard is Vita Vinea. The vineyard consists of 2.5 hectares (6 acres). Grape varieties include Rkatsiteli, Kisi (pictured), Mtsvane and Saperavi.
Tasting Room
Adjacent to the qvevri room is a tasting room with several small tables. The walls of the tasting room are stone and brick. The floor is also stone. The floor and walls contrast with the warm honey tones of the wood ceiling. Arches and a fireplace add ambiance to the wine tasting. In the distance views of the Caucasus Mountains can be seen.
Teleda Wines
We tasted three wines all made in qvevri. Rkatsiteli 2011 was a dark gold color. The aroma was of dried fruits and a hint of floral. The taste was smooth with dried fruit notes. The finish offered chewy tannins and dried fruits yielding to floral. Kisi 2011 was a dark amber color. The wine offered floral and dried apricot notes. The finish had tannins with a long aftertaste.
Saperavi 2011 was a dark purple to black color. The aroma had dark fruit nuances and the taste offered dark fruit notes including black raspberry, cassis and black cherry. The finish was fruity with spice nuances and bold tannins.
Watch for Teleda wines becoming available outside of Georgia, Sakartvelo. This is a wonderful family winery to visit.
Teleda Winery
Shalauri, Kakheti, Georgia
