In 1783, Irakli II, the King of Kartli-Kakheti (a region in the South-East of modern Georgia) awarded Prince Garsevan Chavchavadze (1757- 1811) with wine estates in Kakheti for his services to the Kingdom during the signing the Treaty of Georgievsk, an agreement which established Georgia as a protectorate of Russia. Zegaani vineyards were among the given lands.
In 1811, at the age of 26, the son of Garsevan Chavchavadze, Alexander (1786- 1846) inherited the estate after the death of his father. Since 1812, Alexander was actively involved in the Civil war, foreign campaigns, and rose to prominence as an aide-de-camp to Barclay de Tolly during the siege of Paris. During this part of his life, Alexander Chavchavadze, who was a godson of Catherine the Great, got an opportunity to explore the German and the French ways of life, architecture, culture and traditions of these European countries. He also made himself familiar with the peculiarities of European viticulture and winemaking, many of which were later adopted in Georgia.
It is believed that prior to Alexander Chavchavadze’s return to his homeland in 1817, the wine in Georgia was made using the local traditional Kakheti technology, and the many vineyards were not divided by micro-regions. Thus, the majority of historians and archaeologists agree that despite the fact that the wine industry has existed in Georgia since 7000-8000 BC, the culture of winemaking came to Georgia from Europe and its founder was Alexander Chavchavadze – also the founder of Chateau Zegaani.
In 1820, the construction of Alexander Chavchavadze’s wine estates in Kakheti was completed, as evidenced by the memoirs of the French consul in Tiflis, Jacques François Gamba (1763-1833). In his memoirs, he emphasizes the obvious similarities of Prince Chavchavadze’s estate and gardens with European buildings of the 19th century. The park where Chateau Zegaani is located, is perfectly preserved to this day.
After the death of Prince Alexander Chavchavadze in 1846, the estate was inherited by his son, David Alexandrovich Chavchavadze.
In 1854, Imam Shamil launched another attack on Kakheti, Georgia. He sent a vanguard, which stormed the family estate of Prince David Chavchavadze - Tsinandali, located 65 km from Tiflis (modern Tbilisi). They kidnapped Prince’s wife who was vacationing there, 28-year-old Anna Ilyinichna Bagration-Gruzinskaya and her 6 young children; her sister, 26 -year-old Princess Varvara Orbeliani with a six-month-old son; Varvara’s niece, 18-year-old Princess Nina Baratova; and the children’s French governess Madame Anna Drancey.
Unfortunately, during this treacherous abduction, Chavchavadze estate in Tsinandali was completely burned down (it was later restored, and it now houses the museum of Prince Alexander Chavchavadze). Imam Shamil demanded that Prince David pay a ransom of 1,000,000 silver rubles for the captives. Prince David Chavchavadze was forced to appeal to the Russian Emperor Nicholas I (1796 – 1855) to lend him this amount to buy back his family. The captives were ransomed from Shamil unharmed, but as a result, the Chavchavadze family estate had to be eventually transferred to repay the debt in 1886 to the Russian Emperor Alexander III (1845 - 1894), and it belonged to the Romanovs until the revolution of 1917. There is plenty of documentary evidence of the period, confirming the love of the Russian Emperor Alexander III for Kakhetian wines.
During the so-called "Soviet" period of Georgian history, which began in 1922, the development of Georgian wine-making in the European direction was suspended. This, in turn, significantly narrowed the boundaries of distribution geography. Unfortunately, this trend continued in the first years of the post-Soviet period.
Since 1998, Chateau Zegaani has been privately owned, and, along with the vineyards, belongs to the Georgian family Tatulashvili .
Today, within the walls of the 19th-century wine-making castle so unique for Georgia, the wines are being produced from the harvests of local vineyards, as they were hundreds of years ago. To this day, they are stored in the cellars laid by Prince Alexander Garsevanovich Chavchavadze.
The creation of our wines begins with a vine. Chateau Zegaani is located in the Mukuzani micro-region, which, due to its climatic conditions and soil composition, occupies a special place among the terroirs of Georgia. The location of our vineyards on the northern mountainside prevents stagnation of excess moisture and promotes natural ventilation of the vineyard.
Twenty hectares of vineyards is the volume that allows us to care for the vines in accordance with our environmental principles.
Throughout the whole annual cycle of nurture of the grapevine, we create the most comfortable conditions for its maturation and fruit-bearing. We do it consciously by choosing sparing techniques, since we are truly convinced that such traditional approach to viniculture, which was used for centuries by our ancestors, is at the heart of great winemaking.
Supports in our family vineyards are made of oak and acacia.
Pruning of vines, thinning of leaves, and harvesting are carried out manually.
We use the fiber of the corn tops to tie the vines twice a year, so as not to cause even the slightest mechanical damage to the vine.
We do not use insecticides or herbicides. We use natural fertilizers (cow dung).
As a result of environmentally friendly attitude and state-of-the-art technology, we get grapes of a different quality, and, consequently, qualitatively different wines.
The creation of our wines begins with a vine. Chateau Zegaani is located in the Mukuzani micro-region, which, due to its climatic conditions and soil composition, occupies a special place among the terroirs of Georgia. The location of our vineyards on the northern mountainside prevents stagnation of excess moisture and promotes natural ventilation of the vineyard.
Twenty hectares of vineyards is the volume that allows us to care for the vines in accordance with our environmental principles.
Throughout the whole annual cycle of nurture of the grapevine, we create the most comfortable conditions for its maturation and fruit-bearing. We do it consciously by choosing sparing techniques, since we are truly convinced that such traditional approach to viniculture, which was used for centuries by our ancestors, is at the heart of great winemaking.
Supports in our family vineyards are made of oak and acacia.
Pruning of vines, thinning of leaves, and harvesting are carried out manually.
We use the fiber of the corn tops to tie the vines twice a year, so as not to cause even the slightest mechanical damage to the vine.
We do not use insecticides or herbicides. We use natural fertilizers (cow dung).
As a result of environmentally friendly attitude and state-of-the-art technology, we get grapes of a different quality, and, consequently, qualitatively different wines.
“As envisaged by its builders, Chateau Zegaani was originally designed and built as a winery. On the territory of the farm, there are ancient wine cellars under each building site. Each unit has its own purpose in the process of winemaking. Everything is saturated with history here and we are a part of this history. This inspires us to create special wines with the rare character and the unique taste of these fantastic places”
David Tatulashvili – the owner of Chateau Zegaani
We cultivate two varieties of grape vine - red Saperavi and white Rkatsiteli. Using two different technologies and selected grapes, we create four kinds of Chateau Zegaani wine
WINE IN QVEVRI
Georgian Qvevri is a wine clay jug, treated with beeswax from the inside and with lime from the outside. Qvevri is placed vertically under the ground; this allows the wines to avoid temperature fluctuations, and also, due to the cone-shaped bottom of the vessel, makes their contact with precipitation minimal. With Saperavi from Qvevri we get a rich and flavorful “Zegaani Red winе”. With the aging period of two years in Georgian Qvevri, the wines gain an amazing depth and intensity of taste.
Grapes “Rkatsiteli” with two years of aging in Qvevri give us sensual “Zegaani Kakhuri” characterized by a rich amber color and a hint of honey in taste.
WINES IN OAK BARRELS
Applying the technology of 1888 and using two years old oak barrel-aged Saperavi from our cellars, we make the noble “Mukuzani”, the legend of Georgian winemaking.
With Rkatsiteli, with an aging period of more than two years in oak barrels, we get exquisite and distinguished “Zegaani White wine” with a piquant taste, revealing new facets in the process of its maturity.
WINES
Twice a year, on traditional closed tastings, we select our best wines, which have a high potential and are ready to meet with their connoisseurs.
Theoretically, at the stage when the bottle of wine leaves the chateau cellar, our responsibility to the buyer ends there. From then on, the evolvement of wine will depend on its proper transportation and storage. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee to have a control over that process, but we can provide the seller and you with recommendations in this regard. As for the protection of wines, we are pleased to inform you that all our wines are equipped with a bubble code, by means of which you can independently verify the authenticity of each bottle of “Chateau Zegaani”. By its degree of protection against counterfeits the bubble code on a wine bottle is equated with a unique fingerprint of a person.
In these vineyards, the wines of Chateau Zegaani are born. We take care of the vineyards and create our wines in the harmony with nature.
Chateau Zegaani Wines Tasting in Ukraine - Eco Park "7 Nebo"
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Rtveli (grapes harvesting) in 2017 began in early September. In despite of the hot summer of 2017, we collected an excellent harvest, that will become the wines in 2020.
Mr. Michael Fitsch, before harvesting, inspects the vineyards of Chateau Zegaani.
We met special guests. We had a great time talking about wine. And, of course, there was a tasting of Chaeau Zegaani wines.
Chateau Zegaani was visited by Mr. Michel Fritsch (co-director in "AB2F Concept") with the regular inspection of the vineyards.
Chateau Zegaani - member of IFOAM organics BIO international
Rkatsiteli rtveli
Saperavi rtveli
Guests from China
Chateau Zegaani wine tasting in Rixos Hotel Borjomi
