Georgia · Other producers

Mildiani

Founded in 1991, Mildiani is a family-founded Georgian wine company with a base in Tsinandali, vineyards across several wine zones, and a range that moves between stainless-steel wines and traditional qvevri bottlings.

The producer

Mildiani connects a Tsinandali production base with fruit from several Georgian wine regions. In Racha, its Aleksandrouli Qvevri Private Selection 2018 is made entirely from the local red grape Aleksandrouli in qvevri, bringing grape, region and clay vessel together on one label.

The range also includes qvevri Rkatsiteli alongside classical stainless-steel wines. Traditional Georgian vineyard practice meets Italian and French cellar equipment, so the useful comparison is practical: the grape and region change from bottle to bottle, while the vessel changes the wine’s texture, tannin, acidity and finish.

Known for

Georgian regional wines that pair traditional qvevri production and vineyard practice with modern Italian and French cellar equipment.

Notable facts

The story

A Saperavi Medal In Paris

In 2004, Mildiani’s 2002-vintage Saperavi received a silver medal at Vinalies Internationales in Paris. The family company had begun in 1991, first developing a wine-bottling operation in Mtskheta and then a ceramics workshop for locally made clay wine bottles. The award belonged to one named Saperavi and one vintage, presented at the Paris competition two years after the harvest. Mildiani describes it as the first such award for a Georgian wine after the Soviet Union collapsed. The result sits in the producer’s own account of its early years, alongside the Mtskheta bottling operation and the clay-bottle workshop.

A Saperavi Medal In Paris

In 2004, Mildiani’s 2002-vintage Saperavi received a silver medal at Vinalies Internationales in Paris. The family company had begun in 1991, first developing a wine-bottling operation in Mtskheta and then a ceramics workshop for locally made clay wine bottles. The award belonged to one named Saperavi and one vintage, presented at the Paris competition two years after the harvest. Mildiani describes it as the first such award for a Georgian wine after the Soviet Union collapsed. The result sits in the producer’s own account of its early years, alongside the Mtskheta bottling operation and the clay-bottle workshop.

From the atlas

Mildiani

At A Glance

Mildiani is a family-founded Georgian wine company, established in 1991, whose Racha connection is clearest in wines such as the 100% Aleksandrouli Qvevri Private Selection 2018. Its private wine enterprise sits in Tsinandali, Kakheti, while its vineyards extend across several Georgian wine zones; the label can therefore name a regional grape and place rather than simply the location of the cellar.

The Producer

Eldar, Levan, Fridon and Leri Mildiani founded the winery in 1991. The wider Mildiani group includes Tsinandali Old Cellar, Gurjaani Wine Cellar and Vazi-1, while the company works with vineyards in multiple Georgian wine zones. That structure puts Racha fruit, Kakhetian production and different labels under one family company rather than treating Georgia as one undifferentiated wine region.

Place

Racha matters here through Aleksandrouli, the red grape behind Mildiani Aleksandrouli Qvevri Private Selection 2018. The fruit comes from Racha, while the company’s wine enterprise is in Tsinandali, a Kakhetian microzone; the regional name on the bottle follows the grape’s origin, and the cellar base describes where Mildiani makes and manages its wines.

Mildiani also names Racha-Lechkhumi fruit in its range material. Alongside wines from other Georgian zones, that spread gives the company two useful points of comparison: grape and growing place can change from bottle to bottle, while qvevri or stainless steel can change the way that fruit reaches the glass.

Soil And Site

Mildiani’s documented vineyard holdings cover several Georgian wine zones, not one named hillside or parcel. No retained evidence fixes a soil type, elevation or slope for the Racha Aleksandrouli, so the useful fact is the regional one: its Racha origin is part of the bottle’s definition, while the ground beneath any individual site remains unspecified.

Story

Mildiani began with a wine-bottling operation in Mtskheta, then added a ceramics workshop to make clay wine bottles locally. From that early business, the company expanded to vineyards in several zones and a group of wine enterprises; the consequence in today’s range is a company able to move between regional Georgian grapes, classical stainless-steel wines and qvevri wines.

The cellar side of that story is deliberately mixed. The Tsinandali enterprise was equipped with Italian winemaking equipment, and the Georgian Wine Association describes traditional Georgian vineyard practice alongside modern Italian and French cellar equipment. The result is not a single method imposed on every label: a stainless-steel wine and a qvevri wine can start with Georgian fruit but take materially different routes to texture, fruit expression and finish.

Vineyards And Cellar

Mildiani says it controls quality throughout production from vineyards in multiple zones. Traditional Georgian viticultural practice sets the vineyard side of the work, while Italian and French equipment shapes the cellar side; that combination allows the producer to make wines in stainless steel as well as wines in qvevri, the large clay vessels long associated with Georgian winemaking.

For the Racha Aleksandrouli, qvevri is the defining cellar detail. The 2018 Private Selection is made entirely from Aleksandrouli and made in qvevri, so grape, region and vessel appear together in one bottle. The method is a practical distinction rather than a decorative one: it separates this wine from Mildiani’s classical stainless-steel range before aroma or tannin are even considered.

Wines

Mildiani’s range is built on two tracks. Its classical wines are made in stainless steel, while its traditional wines use qvevri; the vessel choice gives the range a structural divide as well as a stylistic one. Regional fruit then supplies the second divide, with Racha-Lechkhumi among the areas named by the producer.

Mildiani Aleksandrouli Qvevri Private Selection 2018 is a 100% Aleksandrouli wine from Racha, made in qvevri. Mildiani Qvevri Bouquet Rkatsiteli 2019 takes the qvevri route with Rkatsiteli instead, showing that the clay-vessel wines are not limited to one colour or one grape. Together, the two labels make the range legible through grape, region and cellar method rather than through brand names alone.

In The Glass

The Aleksandrouli 2018 puts a red Racha grape into qvevri, while the Rkatsiteli 2019 puts a white Georgian grape into the same traditional vessel. That shared method makes the comparison useful: look first for fruit and floral or savoury notes, then for body, acidity and tannin or grip, rather than assuming every qvevri wine will taste alike.

The Rkatsiteli has independently published aroma, flavour and structural notes, and the Aleksandrouli has a detailed product tasting description. In both cases, qvevri is part of the wine’s texture and structure, but the grapes lead in different directions: Rkatsiteli frames the white-wine side of the range, while Aleksandrouli brings Racha red fruit into a dry, structured setting.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Mildiani Aleksandrouli Qvevri Private Selection 2018. It is 100% Aleksandrouli from Racha and made in qvevri, so its label contains the three things most useful for understanding Mildiani: a specific Georgian grape, a named growing region and a traditional clay-vessel method. It is a red wine to approach for fruit, body, acidity, tannin and finish as one sequence, with the qvevri method providing the structural frame rather than an assumed flavour.

Anecdote

In 2004, Mildiani’s 2002-vintage Saperavi received a silver medal at Vinalies Internationales in Paris. The winery had been founded only 13 years earlier, and its early work had included bottling wine in Mtskheta before developing locally made clay wine bottles. Mildiani describes the Paris result as the first such award for a Georgian wine after the Soviet Union collapsed. The medal belonged to a specific Saperavi vintage, not to the company in general, and Paris was the setting for the award rather than the wine’s place of origin.

Final Word

Mildiani is most useful to follow bottle by bottle: Racha Aleksandrouli in qvevri on one hand, Rkatsiteli in qvevri on the other, and a stainless-steel classical range alongside them. The changing combination of grape, region and vessel supplies the confidence to choose beyond a familiar label.

Sources

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