Meskhuri Mtsvane

The Story

Meskhuri Mtsvane is perhaps the most historically haunted white grape in the Caucasus. For nearly 400 years it existed only as legend — after the Ottoman invasion of Meskheti in 1578 and their subsequent occupation through the early 1800s, the invaders systematically destroyed every vineyard in the region, erasing centuries of viticultural memory. When local winemaker Giorgi Natenadze began searching the forests and abandoned villages of Samtskhe-Javakheti in 2009, he was looking for ghosts. He found them growing wild in the mountains, vines climbing 15–25 meter fruit trees, some specimens estimated to be over 400 years old — survivors from before the Ottoman destruction. Meskhuri Mtsvane is one of these survivors, a member of the broader Mtsvane family that Georgian viticulturists named by regional origin to distinguish the many local biotypes. It grows at altitudes between 900 and 1,700 metres, making Meskheti one of the highest wine regions on Earth. In 2013, a Meskhuri Mtsvane fermented with six months of skin contact in buried qvevri won Best Qvevri Wine at the Traditional Georgian Wine Festival — a remarkable comeback for a variety the world had forgotten. Today only a handful of vines exist, with Natenadze reporting as few as 5 known trees of certain sub-varieties. Forbes listed Meskhuri wines among the best to watch in 2020. Each bottling is produced in runs of 100–1,200 bottles, making Meskhuri Mtsvane one of the world's most micro-production white wines.

Insider Story

Giorgi Natenadze calls himself a vine detective rather than a winemaker. He has spent 17+ years trekking through forest wilderness near abandoned Meskhetian villages, guided by oral histories and old monastery records. The Meskhuri blend includes Meskhuri Mtsvane alongside varieties like Tskhenis Dzudzu Tetri ("Horse's Breast White") — names preserved only in folk memory. Natenadze's cellar was described by Gourmet Traveller Wine as the work of the "Bear Grylls of Georgian Wine." The Soviet Union compounded the Ottoman damage by concentrating all Georgian viticulture in Kakheti; Meskheti was deliberately kept out of the wine map. As a result, Meskhuri Mtsvane avoided the genetic homogenization that Soviet collective farming imposed on mainstream varieties. The vines Natenadze works with have never been grafted — they grow on their own roots, having survived phylloxera in rocky mountain soil. This own-rootstock status is extremely rare globally and gives the wines a terroir purity that grafted vines cannot replicate.

Technical Deep Dive

Meskhuri Mtsvane is a member of the Georgian Mtsvane family (meaning "green" in Georgian), a group of related white varieties differentiated by region of origin. The Meskheti biotype thrives in carbonaceous alluvial soils, high-altitude clay, and widespread brown forest soils at 900–1,700m elevation in the Samtskhe-Javakheti province bordering Turkey. The region's cool, moist microclimate requires meticulous canopy management to ensure adequate air circulation and prevent fungal pressure. Traditional fermentation is carried out in qvevri — egg-shaped earthenware vessels buried underground — with 4–6 months skin contact. The extended maceration extracts tannins and polyphenols from the skins, producing amber-hued whites with grip and structure unusual for the variety's light aromatic profile. Natenadze has found that six months of skin contact gives the best balance of tannin and aromatics. The wines are unfiltered and unfined, with no added sulfites in the most traditional expressions. Flavor profile: green apple, lime zest, mineral, herbs, mountain freshness. The high altitude extends the growing season significantly, preserving natural acidity. The Georgian qvevri method was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2013, rooting Meskhuri Mtsvane in one of the world's most ancient winemaking traditions — Georgia has produced wine for at least 8,000 years, confirmed by PNAS-published archaeological research.

Industry Secrets

The Meskhuri wines are so rare that importers in the UK and US often limit purchases to one bottle per customer. Natenadze produces all wines from truly wild vines on own roots — not cultivated plantings — which means supply is permanently constrained by what nature provides, not by vineyard expansion. Only 26 of the 40+ varieties he has discovered have been formally identified by ampelographers; many exist in his cellar without an official name. The Meskhuri white blend typically includes 3–4 varieties, of which Meskhuri Mtsvane is the most aromatic component. Georgian wine exports to the EU grew 13% in 2025 but natural wine exports fell 34.6% in early 2025 as demand shifted — this creates a paradox where the rarest artisan producers like Natenadze face distribution pressure despite critical acclaim. The Georgian government is actively pushing appellation-of-origin designations for specific microzones, which will eventually help formalize the Meskheti terroir.

More white grapes

• Minnella
• Misket
• Monemvasia
• Moscatel de Setúbal
• Moscato