Rtveli: All About Georgia's Traditional Harvest
The Georgian harvest is probably the noisiest and the busiest time for the cellar; when winemakers pray for sunny weather, each workday starts at 6:30 AM, team members become superheroes, and you witness the birth of the new vintage. What could be more exciting than the harvest joy? Follow us to learn more about the Georgian harvest, which we call Rtveli (რთველი). The Rtveli process starts much earlier in the season than grape picking, and pre-harvest preparations play a crucial role in determining the wine quality. To begin the process, all the Qvevries, the clay pots where fermentation takes place, are cleaned several times with pure water; chemicals are strictly avoided, as they cling to the clay pores and spoil...