Lost Eden

Aspects of the ancient methods, which pre-date written history, are still applied to Georgian winemaking today. They use the same clay pot design and believe wine is better with less human intervention. So they harvest their grapes from arguably the oldest vines on Earth, place them deep underground in giant pots, called qvevris (pronounced kwevr-ees), and let time do its job. There are 18 distinct wine-producing regions and Georgia is home to over 500 varieties of grape, and the very word “wine” is believed to have spread from the ancient Georgian word “Gvino” which means something that “rises, boils or ferments.” Recently, the qvevri technique itself was given heritage protection status by UNESCO. This is why the French regard Georgia as the “birthplace of wine.”

Generation after generation, Lado Uzunashvili’s ancestors worked the lush Kakheti region long before the reign of Tsar Alexander I. For hundreds of years, Lado’s family perfected and preserved the extraordinary recipes that he would one day inherit. Then it was his turn to take the helm. After attending prestigious oenology schools in Moscow and Australia—and learning everything there was to know about the science of winemaking—Lado turned his attention back to craftsmanship. It is this combination of art and science that make his wines so extraordinary.

Lado’s most recent creation, Lost Eden, is no exception. The product of a storied terroir, born from unusually rich soil in the warm, mild climate of the Kakheti region, Lost Eden is the chance for Lado to share the Saperavri grape with the rest of the world. Lado was raised here in Mukuzani, amid the largest wine-producing region in Georgia. Protected by the mighty Caucasus mountain range to the north, the valley floor below maintains a tepid temperature year-round, nurturing grapes and winemakers alike for many centuries.