Butrana Strives to Establish European Standards in Production

Butrana is a micro-zone located in Kakheti, near the village of Tibaani, which is one of the oldest in Kakheti. The grapes grown there are distinguished by special taste properties, and the wine by its character.

"Our family owns 10 hectares of land near Tibaani, and it was they - first and foremost my grandfather - who instilled in me a love for this business from an early age. We produce three types of products - wine, cheese and meat products. All our products are related to wines made from grapes grown in Butrana - for example, the cheese we produce is aged in our own Saperavi."

Natural milk has always been in short supply in Georgia, but Butrana has the ambition to make its cheese only on natural milk. That is why it was decided to build a dairy farm. The cows are going to be exported from Spain - because of their distinctive genetics and rare productivity. Before that, with milk produced on its own small farm and purchased from other local farmers, "Butrana" offers up to twenty types of cheese - served in Saperavi, Tatara, Ajika, honey, mint, berries or other methods.

The expansion of the farm and the complete transition to the European standard will obviously increase the scale of production and the precondition for the bold implementation of new ideas. Butrana from European cheeses already produces mozzarella, and in the near future it is planned to add Camembert and blue cheese.

"The new farm will help us a lot to increase the scale of production. Initially, Butrana employed 5 people, today we have about 20 employees, and after the farm is up and running, we will have at least 7 new employees."

Butrana produces two types of wine from grapes grown on six hectares of vineyards - Saperavi and Rkatsiteli Qvevri.

"So far we are only pouring 5,000 bottles, which goes to the local market, but we have a plan to build a chateau and we want to increase annual production to 100,000 bottles. Obviously, wine exports are also planned. We are going to export wine to the markets of China, Russia and the European Union. "

There are about 50 varieties of grapes in "Butrana" vineyards. Wine is produced from wine varieties, and the rest is sold as fruit - "AgroHub" is supplied with packaged and labeled grapes from the local vineyards. These grapes are stored in the refrigerator, which is a novelty in Georgia. Grapes are also planned to be exported to the EU market.

Butrana strives to establish European standards and innovations, which is a time-consuming and costly affair. The company has a 7-year history of cooperation with TBC, with the support of TBC they purchased the equipment needed to run a refrigeration plant, and now they have also received funding to build a farm of European standard. Jemal Khatiashvili says that "there are many more innovations in the plan and this kind of support allows us to speak about them more or less boldly."