Ojaleshi, the wine of Salkhino

Ojaleshi is one of the oldest grape varieties of Samegrelo. Its name is said to mean "grown on trees" in Megrelian: in the old days the vines climbed tall trees.

The Dadiani vineyard

In the 19th century Prince Davit Dadiani of Mingrelia planted dedicated Ojaleshi vineyards in Salkhino. His son-in-law, Achille Murat, later expanded them to 16 hectares by 1912. According to the sources, Salkhino's Ojaleshi also won awards at international exhibitions.

Decline and return

Phylloxera and fungal diseases destroyed much of the vineyard, and in Soviet times most of Samegrelo's land went to tea plantations. Today the Salkhino monastery makes Ojaleshi again, and the variety is one of Georgia's fastest-growing protected designations of origin.

Ojaleshi is a dry or semi-sweet red wine, deep in colour, with notes of wild berries. It suits a Megrelian table well: elarji, gebzhalia and spicy sauces.