7 months on skin for this Rkatsiteli & Mtsvane wine. With all Georgian wines, do not serve chilled, and allow to breathe for best results. These wines are stable and should hold a good few days once open, improving greatly with time.
Zurab Mgvdliashvili's grandfather Nikala already built a small marani and cultivated wine in 1928 in Kardenakhi on the right bank of the Alazani river.
At that time, Soviet trains were still running in Kakheti and the property was in the centre of the village directly opposite of the railway station. The ravages of time didn't stop there either, only a ruin of the station still reminds of the old times...
When Zurab took over the property in 2005, not much more was left than the old foundation.
As a tribute to his grandfather and the long family tradition he restored everything in loving detail and kept the old name, Nikala's Marani. He bought up small vineyards in first-class locations, until he was able to dedicate himself completely to wine production.
Despite the constantly growing demand for his wines, he only wants to grow to the point where he can still control everything himself, because otherwise it would no longer be the wine pressed by his own hands.
Up to 10,000 bottles of wine are produced annually on a 5 hectare area.