Last week during Odessa Wine Week festival, the best wine made of Odessa Black variety was chosen among 305 examples. This wine also was awarded with the special Riedel glass. The editors of the Odessa Journal is telling what do we know about Gigineishvili Wine House from Vinnitsa.

Small winemaking begins to develop in Ukraine. Before being named a wine country, it is still a long way off, but mini-wineries and even wine-making estates, arranged according to the principle of French chateau and producing terroir wines, in spite of everything, are fighting for their existence and are improving production. This gives hope that over time, small-scale winemaking will become the pride of Ukraine, and Ukrainian wines will compete with European ones.

Thus, Vladimir Gigineishvili, the head of the well-known construction company LLC "Vinnitsabud", businessman and founder of the "Gigineishvili Wine House", was one of the first to take up winemaking in a completely non-wine region.

Vladimir Gigineishvili, born in Georgia in 1948, moved to Ukraine with his parents when he was 5 years old. The family settled in Vinnytsia, in the mother's homeland. Most of Vladimir Karlovich's life is associated with the construction business: he graduated at the Odessa Civil Engineering Institute, went from a painter to a manager, more than 500 objects were built under his leadership. Since 1989 Vladimir Gigineishvili has been the general director of the Vinnitsabud construction company. Today, he is an honoured builder of Ukraine, academician of the Academy of Construction of Ukraine.

The path of a well-known businessman and builder in winemaking in the Vinnitsa region began with a simple hobby, and now it has become a real work of life. Thanks to his Georgian roots, Vladimir Gigineishvili has always been well versed in wine, and 10 years ago he got carried away with winemaking and got down to business with his usual energy. On his site in the picturesque village of Kordelevka, he built a wine cellar, which he filled with wine made by his friends from Crimea, Georgia and Odessa. When the wine ran out, Vladimir Gigineishvili decided to make even more wine himself. It was then that fate brought him together with the chairman of the Union of private winegrowers and winemakers of Transcarpathia, Alexander Kovach. The tandem of two people in love with their work gave impetus to the development of winemaking in the Vinnytsia region.

Wine cellars have grown so much that they have transformed into a state-of-the-art winery, laboratory and storage facility. The premises were built from scratch, all the nuances were taken into account, and in the process, adjustments were made based on the ideal conditions for creating high-quality wines according to the technology.

To organise his own production properly, Vladimir Gigineishvili visited small wineries in Georgia, France, Italy and Ukraine. A visit to the Kolonist winery in Bolgrad became a real inspiration and an impetus for decisive action.

After visiting the "Kolonist Winery" I had an even greater desire to start making wine. As Ivan used to say, "honest wine." And I learned the main thing: you need to make good wine or not make it at all.

Vladimir Gigineishvili

So Vladimir Gigineishvili found his favourite business, which brings pleasure and which can be done forever. And the recognition of friends gave him even more strength to do what he did so well.

I began slowly to equip the premises, equipped them with the most modern equipment, which I purchased from Alexander Kovach, after which I built an additional workshop, expanded the basement. And in 2013, in the village of Kordelevka, Vinnitsa region, a winery was opened, which was named after the family name “Gigineishvili Wine House”.

Vladimir Gigineishvili

Today, the company employs a technologist from Georgia with 25 years of experience, who monitors the process of creating wine, adhering to production technology and looking for new opportunities, the hidden potential of certain grape varieties.

Quality issues are taken very seriously at Gigineishvili Wine House. If the equipment, then only high-quality, made of appropriate materials and taking into account innovative technologies. If the raw material is selected grapes (currently, wine grapes are purchased in Odessa region). If the bottle is clogged, then it is a natural cork. If storage - then only with constant appropriate temperature support. Controlling the fermentation temperature is very important, especially in the production of white wines. Then, the aroma is not lost, the wines do not deteriorate, they have a delicate, balanced taste. In addition, this technology allows the processing of cold wines before bottling.

Magnificent traditional table wines, harmonious, delicate, fragrant, pleasant taste are obtained from grape varieties grown in the Odessa region. Grapes are delivered to the winery in refrigerators, and this approach has its advantages: the berries collected in the field are cooled warm enough during transportation to 2 degrees, which is very important for the technology of white wine production. Due to the fact that the grapes come chilled, it is very good to prepare before the start of fermentation - process, remove sediment, remove only clean wort and start fermentation, removing the remnants of chemical treatment, dust, which is always in the vineyard.

The process is not easy and expensive, but this is the only way to get high quality wine with good organoleptic characteristics. This is not garage wine. After all, the motto of the "Gigineishvili Wine House" is: "Less, but better!"

Vladimir Gigineishvili

In the future, Vladimir Gigineishvili is going to grow his own grapes in the Southern regions of Vinnytsia region.

Based on the materials and photos by Vinbazar