If you know the price of close proximity to nature, if you are looking for a place that enhances your impressions, If you love natural products and you want to taste a special wine, - You must visit this place.

This place is in Georgia, Ateni Gorge, this is wine cellar  (In Georgian - “Marani” location for storing wine in special pitchers) of Nika Vacheishvili -  Former head of National Agency of Cultural Heritage Protection and not only Wine cellar.

He left 8 years ago and almost settled there. He says, that spends significantly more time in Ateni, than in Tbilisi and this place became already as home of three generations of Vacheishvili. So called the tradition, as the future.

"You will come to Ateni and you will understand,that you saw something unusual and special. Our three generations are here from March to late autumn. This is not a project only for us, we want everyone to have a chance to see this happiness "- says Nika Vacheishvili.

That's why it was decided to make wine cellar  first and then GestHouse.

Marani is special with old traditions, ...built from lime of Ateni, GestHouse is small and quiet, there come many guests and relatives, Georgians and foreigners ... The mood is such as when they show you the forgotten homeland and can`t hide the excitement ...

The guests are offered different programs here, the goal is to deepen in the history and introduce traditions, for example, children are learning Ateni Sioni painting, learning how the ancestors drew and how they can do it themselves.

"In 2010 we started the development of winemaking - viticulture, because Ateni Gorge is a well-known territory, a continuous tradition of winemaking. One of the most famous wine in Georgia was made here and Vakhushti Batonishvili called him "the best wine of all the wines of the kings". Wine exclusivity is conditioned by geographical location and microclimate, the rocks containing lots of minerals, which are important for the vine, and these minerals provide wines with exclusiveness. Of course, there is possibility to plant various grape varieties somewhere else, but you will not get the tasteful qualities that you can achieve in Ateni. Ateni has small land and we have a small vineyard on different slopes. This gives the diversity of wines, each of them has its own taste. From the very beginning we thought such way, that there should be a small number but unique wines. We have tested the vineyards next to the river, next to the rocks, how it would reflect in the wine and I think it became very good " – says the host.

As a lecturer, she explains additionally why are the tradition as the future.

"What I theoretically explain to the students, what has to be the tradition look like, which  continues to live in renewed conditions and in modern demands, approximately became like that and here everything became according to the principle - the tradition as the future. Very nice, everyone likes, those who visit, feel themselves very cozy.

I would like to expand educational load - He says and tells us what a charm has mastering of rock climbing or archery in this environment, astronomical observations on the sky, full of stars, soap becomes unpopular in fashion and here you can make soup from clay and you can also use grape husk for this. We are happy and follow the path of this discovery. We do not need watches and we have watches of sun, Time passes differently here than in the city and here time also has other specifics.

Ateni's sights enable all of this, there are lots of routes around with nature's marvels and historical monuments.

"Because this was the main way to Syria, to Palestine, to the whole Byzantine, it was the main artery of the economy in old Georgia, Davit Aghmashenebeli many times have been walking in this small gorge, this locality had a strategic importance and here was kept Georgia's treasury ... It is an unique place, it is history, which is visible on every step of the foot, " - says Nika Vacheishvili.

Last year he got an idea and he made a program „by ourselves” for the guests. Its main principle is that everyone can make food by himself (herself), cook  a pizza or khachapuri, take a walk himself (herself), draw, taste wine or press juice out of grapes, pet vineyard and feel himself (herself) as a host.

From year to year wine volume grow in Nika Vacheishvili's wine cellars, slowly the vineyard, where vine has been planted by his hand, begin to bear grapes and in 2 years the harvest and the wine itself will be more...

"We have traditional, endemic cultivars, more than 3000 bottles. We think there will be maximum 5000 bottles. This is considered as a family activity and we are not going to have plant, It's not commerce, it's the taste of this locality, Such brilliant wine you will be able to taste only in this place of the world. At the end of May, you're standing in the field and hear a wonderful buzz, at the beginning I did not know and wondered. Then I was told that this is the bee job trails, all this happens over our vineyards. I accidentally discovered that the land here contains a large amount of iron, I magnet fell down and stuck to the ground, then I realized why the Atenian façade turned red – oxygenated. Although there were some offers, he took one test batch abroad, He is not interested in wine exports. "Demand is growing in Georgia too and I do not want to take it anywhere abroad, after which I will not have wine here. We will develop Ateni and export is secondary importance . The main thing is the quality and we have achieved that maintained the balance and whole cycle goes not only blindly but by our control, by our collaboration. This year our wines came out high sweetened and high alcoholic, which is a quality indicator. "

In Nika Vacheishvili's wine cellar it is possible to taste 5 different wines. The vineyard is grown on the land which is up to 4 hectares. He loves this locality and he is very proud. He is glad when people like his achievement and they praising him. He is the host of both foreigners and local population. Here arrive Germans, French, Austrians, mainly from Western Europe, recently here also arrived Asians. "Although they do not drink wine, they still realize that this is a special place. We had guests from Saudi Arabia, Iran, they are involved in the process and help us. Foreign guests keeping touch with us constantly tell us, we keep correspondence, for example, we had French guests and they sent us  their relatives 5 timesGeorgians com mainly with families, they often come with their children, who are abroad and with their relatives. They realize that this visit is not just episodic touch with Ateni. "

On the question does the experience, which has been achieved during the period, when he was the head of National Agency of Cultural Heritage Preservation help him, he answers: 

- Of course and I will tell you the truth, it helps and  what I would do for the country, I will do the same for that micro area. This is a branding, commercially well-to-do plan, equilibrium between commerce and development, how can be publishing policy?... I intend to implement very simple, cheap and effective museum and curriculum projects in Ateni, there will be created a museum space, a small library ... united, combined space with modern service and offer in the oldest place, the place similar of which you have seen in Switzerland or anywhere else.

- As for financial resources, how do you manage to attract it?

- Unfortunately, in this respect, such a response are used to: When we go to donors, they tell us, that we're going ahead in time and they have planned such a strategy a few years later ... so what we have done is good and at the same time bad, has a plus and a negative too. What we did , this are mostly banking financing, bank loans, so we are very well aware of the ideas that we can put in projects so  that avoid problems cavil, accordingly it goes slowly and efficiently. We do not have socialist money (here is money and do what you want) and every penny has a goal, I'm a bit getting angry, the share of donors in such projects is very little and it is disappointing, when you see a lot of useless projects, how they are financed with applause, but the reality is this.

- Do not you plan to involve in state projects?

- I`d like to try my fortune in the project "manufacture in Georgia"  but I do not want to be dependent and we have alternative projects too. If there will not be a state assistance, we will not stop, if it will be - we will be happy and grateful, but we are realists.

- Wine tours are already offered to tourists in Georgia in great numbers. Family farming has become more active, what should people do who are involved in this process. It seems that in many places it spontaneously develops. Do not you see the threat that maybe development in this direction can be hindered, what would be your recommendation?

- It seems that if you look at one side it's easy to do. People come, they are happy, they taste the wine, they praise you, pay money and leave... But it is really a great work, it requires 24-hour readiness, and is very tiring physically. The most important thing is to keep always high quality, that means every hour of work, that always keep the yard, bridge, access roads tidy, to always be the one who communicates and answers the phone calls. It can not be any doubt whether this will be food or wine or even a smile... Every day you have to smile to people, you should bring them in a good mood with your smile, because as host you are like first Gateway. This is hard work and Georgians are now learning to work hard after the Soviet Union and yet the risks are too big, there is even a risk that when you taste the wine , you will find out that the pitcher was not washed well and your wine is no longer useful... So if expectations are high and the reality is low, the result is worse. This risk exsists and from a single popularity, we must move on to the popularity, that will be obtained by work and Georgian wine has this opportunity and risk also - the pitcher should be thoroughly burnt, well washed, otherwise you can always get a good pitcher in Georgia.

As for Ateni he says, that it should be the atmosphere of chattering, crowded with people, not just chaos, the place, where you are happy and feel that you are the son of nature.

Maia Demetrashvili

www.travelingeorgia.ge