Paul is an American transplant who found his calling in the vineyards of Kakheti. After a successful construction career, Paul's soul called him to this tucked away corner of the world to make wine in the oldest of wine traditions. He has said, "My lifelong interest in wine goes across all seven continents, I almost immediately picked up on the incredibly interesting wine making tradition here to the extent that I have been collecting traditional and ancient Georgian wine drinking vessels and am currently writing a book about then. That was even followed by a stint as Chairman of Teliani Valley through our refinancing with OPIC. That led to the purchase of the first - and smallest - of three vineyards in Nukriani followed by larger purchases in Ojio and Khashmi. In turn, that led to purchasing two plots of land in Sighnaghi, where Paul makes his mark on the world by making world class wines.

Winemaker: Paul Rodzianko

Winery Stats

Vineyard Size: 8.4 hec
Total Production: 750-1000 cases
Farming: Organic, Traditional
Certification: None- by choice of winery
Grapes Planted (Red): Saperavi
Grapes Planted (White): Rkatsiteli

Philosophy

Traditional Georgian winemaking in every sense. The grapes are grown with no use of pesticides or any other chemical agents. The wine is made in an authentic marani (wine cellar) built into the ground of Paul's home in Signaghi. Georgia has been producing wines for over 6,000 years, and is enjoying a quiet but building renaissance here in the US. It is an absolute darling of the natural wine scene as traditional viticulture here by definition is done in a closed ecosystem. The Cradle of Wine Gogi's White is a great entry to other even more traditional and austere bottlings. It has a fruity, delectable profile that draws in even non-natural wine fans. The Saperavi is classic, brooding, powerful, tannic, everything it should be. We believe that Nature provided humans with a great gift: the grape. We strive to ensure that the wine from any bottle we produce first and foremost represents the flavor of the grape or grapes from which the wine is made as affected only by the nature of the yeasts occurring naturally in the vineyard, the weather that year and, of course, the soils. The winemaker should be invisible.

Something Random

Paul is a devout member of the Eastern Orthodox Church and a descendant of members of the imperial court of Russia pre-1917 revolution that fled from the country in the run up to said event.