If you want to know Georgian traditional family of Kakheti, you should definitely visit "Wine Yard N1".

Winemaking, Culinary, Local Folklore, Family Farm, Flower Garden - all in one space.

"Wine Yard N1" - is a touristic space, which is based on family conception. Everybody has own role here - the host will meet you at the door, will explain you how to make wine, will show you the three-generation wine-cellar, you can taste the wine from Qvevri (Georgian wine-jar) and participate in the process of making Vodka, baking Deda's bread and Khachapuri, you can also try on Georgian traditional clothes, prepare dishes and at last you'll be able to sit at the Sufra (Georgian table full of Georgian dishes) with family members, where your host will be Tamada (head of Georgian Sufra).

All this happens 160 km. drive from Tbilisi, Kvareli region, in Akhalsopeli village. The village is surrounded by beautiful views of the Caucasus Mountains, rivers and historical monuments.

The idea belongs to the family member - Tika Dugashvili, who decided to leave Tbilisi and live the village.

The idea came to her when she was traveling abroad. Her house and vineyards are located in Kindzmarauli micro zone.

All the goodness and unique microclimate of nature she received as a gift and the rest she made with her own hands, non-commercial. Relationships, holidays arrangement and hospitality is Tika's favorite job, she is a journalist and musician by profession.

All the things in "Wine Yard N1" represents old age. The red brick and cobblestones which were used to build this house, are the beauty of this place. The yard is full of Georgian wine-jars (Qvevri), tiles and wooden barrels; Bread and Nazuki (Sweet Georgian cinnamon bread with raisins) are ready in the bakery; Family wine-cellar (Marani) is full of clay pottery, traditional wine extractor and Georgian wine-jars (Qvevri). Wooden woven baskets, straw hats and spices make the scent more pungent. On the shelves of the Marani you can see the homemade fruit jams and juices, which looks tasteful; Many things in here portrays Family traditions. On the shelf you can see the old sewing machine, the old cradle is here as well. With the seasons, fruit and vegetable offers are changing as well.

Social tourism is very important here, for example the host and the guest can together make Tatara (Georgian grape pudding), Churchkhela (Georgian candle-shaped candy made from natural grape juice and different kinds of nuts). Every season of the year has its own charm, so here you can taste the real taste of Kakheti.

"I repair with my own hands, I don't follow anyone and I believe in my vision", - says Tika, which doesn't see a competitor in this realm. She exactly knows what she wants and these wishes are different from others. People often tell her what kind of service other people use, what kind of products they use, but she doesn't care, she follows her intuition, which mostly doesns't betray her.

She believes, that it doesn't matter what kind of Marani or house you have, because human and humanity is most important thing and she believes that this vision can be contagious.

"I want to show the real life, how we pick fruits, how we bake bread, what kind of celebrations we have and how we celebrate them. My profession has helped me, once I was teaching folk songs. I made the ethnographical elements of Kakheti our special service", - adding that she is proud that she was jumping with the foreign guests during the bonfire night, baking traditional Georgian Easter cake with them, took part in master classes to make traditional dishes, watched traditional wrestling, showed them historical monuments... then she sat and told them about Georgia, Kakheti, what kind of impact was in different periods and what kind it is today. It's important for her and as she says, it's more important than the bottled wine... and she knows the price of the wine really well - from Papa (grandfather in Kakheti), from father and now already from herself.

She knows many stories about wine: you can see the brand label on Dugashvilebi's wine-jar, this quality is found in the Georgian pottery making. It was made with clay and it belonged only the masters of pottery making. The right to put the brand label was obtained only with labour and experience.

In the Georgian wine-cellar (Marani) of the "Wine Yard" there are 6 Qvevri (Georgian wine-jar) of Zedashe, the guests are gladly explained the importance of Zedashe and what it means for Georgian culture... "If there is no Zedashe in Marani, we can't call it Marani", - you can read in Sulkhan-Saba's dictionary. Zedashe is the holy place in the family, which was used for praying; In the Qvevri of Zedashe was made the wine, which was only for the church; Zedashe often was prepared also for the celebration, for example for Giorgoba, Mariamoba, Christmas…

"I was living in northen Netherlands and met totally different environment in Amsterdam, entirely different agroculture, I visited ordinary people, I was interested in their life, how they lived, what kind of traditions they had. I realized that this is a real tourism - an opportunity to talk about how the local population lives", - says Tika.

Only intuition is not still enough, so she was studying in Newkaz - Tourism development center. She studied the requirements of the modern market and become a certified guide. She visited many countries and now she knows what people want in different countries. She uses these demands in her offerings, that's why she could put whole Kakheti into one yard and could attract the tourists and the guests as well.

Now she has plans, the job needs to be developed, employment is also very important and she decided to involve the locals in this process. She also plans to arrange the horse stable and almost has prepared the project. Now she's trying to get the funding. She had already placed two rooms on Booking.com. She had decorated these rooms by herself and already received orders. Now she's looking forward to introduce Georgia to the new guests.

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