Georgia · Other producers

Ori Marani

Georgian artisanal sparkling wine from family-grown regional fruit, alongside small qvevri- and oak-shaped still cuvées.

The producer

Founded in 2017 in Igoeti, Shida Kartli, Ori Marani makes artisanal sparkling wine alongside a smaller still-wine range. Winemaker Bastien Warskotte, originally from Champagne, works with general manager Nino Gvantseladze; the cellar joins traditional-method sparkling work with Georgian qvevri and old French oak.

Fruit comes from small family growers in Shida Kartli, Kakheti and Imereti, while sparkling grapes also draw on Lechkhumi from the 2021 harvest. Revoir un Printemps 2017 shows the still-wine side: a pale, dry rosé of 80% Aladasturi and 20% Tsitska, first held in qvevri then in a 350-litre oak barrel, with melon and apricot fruit followed by spice and flint.

Known for

Traditional-method Georgian sparkling wines and small still cuvées linking indigenous grapes, qvevri, lees and old French oak.

Notable facts

The story

Nita’s label paintings

Some Ori Marani wines take their names from younger family members, and Nino Gvantseladze’s young niece, Nita, made the paintings used for the labels. Her name also appears on Nita 2017, a still-wine cuvée in the range. The bottles bring together a child’s painted image, fruit from the winery’s network of family growers and cellar work in Igoeti. Alongside the sparkling wines made by traditional method, Nita is part of the smaller still-wine side of Ori Marani, where individual cuvées can follow their own fermentation and ageing route through qvevri and oak.

Nita’s label paintings

Some Ori Marani wines take their names from younger family members, and Nino Gvantseladze’s young niece, Nita, made the paintings used for the labels. Her name also appears on Nita 2017, a still-wine cuvée in the range. The bottles bring together a child’s painted image, fruit from the winery’s network of family growers and cellar work in Igoeti. Alongside the sparkling wines made by traditional method, Nita is part of the smaller still-wine side of Ori Marani, where individual cuvées can follow their own fermentation and ageing route through qvevri and oak.

From the atlas

Ori Marani

At A Glance

Ori Marani is a 2017 winery in Igoeti, Shida Kartli, built chiefly around artisanal sparkling wine and a smaller group of still cuvées. Its bottles join fruit from several Georgian regions with qvevri, old French oak and traditional-method sparkling work.

The Producer

Winemaker Bastien Warskotte, originally from Champagne, works with general manager Nino Gvantseladze, his Georgian partner. Their cellar makes sparkling wine its main subject, while still bottles such as Nita and Revoir un Printemps show another side of the range: regional Georgian grapes fermented and aged through qvevri and oak.

The name Ori Marani means “two wineries” in Georgian. It refers to the two cellar materials at the heart of the project—qvevri and old French oak—and helps explain why a dry rosé such as Revoir un Printemps can move from clay vessel to barrel instead of following one fixed route.

Place

The winery is in Igoeti, in Shida Kartli, but its fruit travels a wider Georgian route. Ori Marani works with small family growers in Shida Kartli, Kakheti and Imereti; sparkling-wine grapes come from Imereti and Shida Kartli, with Lechkhumi added from the 2021 harvest. A label from Igoeti therefore points to a cellar and a set of grower relationships, not one enclosed estate.

That geography is especially clear in Revoir un Printemps 2017. Its Aladasturi came from Vartsikhe and its Tsitska from Terjola, so the pale dry rosé is assembled from two named places and two grapes before qvevri and barrel ageing shape the finished wine.

Soil And Site

Ori Marani’s documented site story is one of separate growing areas rather than one named slope or soil type. Family-grown fruit from Shida Kartli, Kakheti and Imereti gives the still range a broader set of origins, while the sparkling wines draw from Imereti and Shida Kartli, then Lechkhumi from 2021 onward. The consequence is a range organised by grape source and cellar treatment rather than by a single vineyard designation.

For Revoir un Printemps, Vartsikhe supplies 80% Aladasturi and Terjola 20% Tsitska. Those origins remain visible behind the wine’s melon, apricot, spice and flint character, instead of being blurred into a generic Georgian rosé.

Story

Ori Marani began in 2017 with a deliberate split in its work: artisanal sparkling wine at the centre, small still-wine cuvées alongside it. Warskotte’s Champagne background brought traditional-method sparkling practice into the cellar; Gvantseladze’s Georgian partnership rooted the project in local grapes, growers and vessels. The result is not a Champagne replica: the sparkling programme sits beside still wines that can spend time in qvevri before oak.

That split gives the range its shape. Bottle-fermented sparkling wines use indigenous yeast and time on lees, while still wines can take a different course through qvevri and barrel. A drinker moving between Laora NV, Nino NV and Revoir un Printemps encounters one cellar working with several forms of texture: mousse and lees in the sparkling bottles, then dry rosé fruit and vessel-derived savoury detail in Revoir.

Vineyards And Cellar

Ori Marani sources from small family growers and gives priority to vineyards using organic growing and management practices. This keeps the winery’s work close to fruit from several regions, so the cellar’s job is to preserve distinctions between grapes and origins rather than force every bottle into one house recipe.

For sparkling wine, traditional-method production, indigenous yeast, lees and barrel work are part of the documented approach. Lees ageing builds flavour after fermentation and supports a more layered mousse; the use of qvevri and barrel places Georgian clay and old French oak in the same cellar conversation. The still-wine programme uses its own bottle-specific choices, so neither sulfur nor filtration wording should be treated as a rule for every Ori Marani label.

Wines

The range divides cleanly between sparkling wines and small still-wine releases. Laora NV and Nino NV are the current sparkling cuvées; Nino NV also uses a reserve-wine programme, adding an older-wine component to its blend. Both belong to the traditional-method side of Ori Marani, where fermentation in bottle, lees and mousse are central structural features.

The still wines carry a more direct vessel story. Revoir un Printemps 2017 is a pale, dry rosé of 80% Aladasturi and 20% Tsitska. It spent two months in qvevri, then moved to a 350-litre oak barrel, giving its dry fruit profile a path through clay and wood. Nita 2017 is another named still cuvée, while the label family connects some releases to younger relatives.

In The Glass

Revoir un Printemps 2017 begins with melon and apricot, then moves toward spice and flint. The wine is pale and dry, so the fruit reads as fresh rather than sweet; Aladasturi and Tsitska provide the grape frame, while two months in qvevri followed by oak barrel ageing brings extra texture and savoury detail. Its finish is the place to look for the flinty note after the softer melon and apricot aromas.

In the sparkling bottles, the useful structural markers are mousse and lees rather than rosé fruit. Traditional-method production puts the secondary fermentation in bottle, and lees ageing makes texture and finish part of the wine’s character alongside its regional grape source.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Revoir un Printemps 2017. It is a pale, dry rosé made from 80% Aladasturi from Vartsikhe and 20% Tsitska from Terjola, aged first for two months in qvevri and then in a 350-litre oak barrel. Melon and apricot lead, spice and flint follow, and the dry palate makes the change from clay to oak tangible. One bottle contains Ori Marani’s regional sourcing, Georgian vessel work and small-cuvée approach without confusing it with the separate sparkling programme.

Anecdote

At Ori Marani, some wines take their names from younger family members. Nino Gvantseladze’s young niece, Nita, made the paintings used for the wine labels, linking a child’s drawings to bottles made from family-grower fruit and worked in the Igoeti cellar. The name Nita also appears on a 2017 still-wine cuvée in the range. On one side of the label is the hand-painted image; on the other is a wine shaped by fermentation, élevage and a named vintage. The artwork did not arrive as a separate branding exercise after the wine was finished: it became part of how the family-named bottles were presented.

Final Word

Ori Marani is worth seeking out for the contrast inside its cellar: bottle-fermented sparkling wines from several Georgian regions, and dry still wines such as Revoir un Printemps that move from qvevri to old oak. The grapes, vessels and named bottlings provide the useful details.

Sources

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