Sarajishvili

Grape brandy house, since 1884

The Sarajishvili house was founded in Tiflis in 1884 and released its first brandy in 1887. Its creator David Sarajishvili was a chemist with a doctorate who put the distillation of grape spirit on a scientific footing, giving Georgia an industrial classical technology instead of a household craft.

Recognition came quickly: gold medals at the exhibitions in Paris, Brussels and Chicago, and in 1913 the status of purveyor to the court of the Russian emperor.

After Sovietisation the enterprise was nationalised and renamed the Tbilisi Cognac Factory; the present buildings were put up between 1939 and 1954. In 1994 the company was privatised and took back its historical name; today it belongs to the Bubuteishvili family.

Sarajishvili remains the largest brandy producer in Georgia and exports widely. The word «cognac» no longer applies on international markets, it is reserved for the French region, so the Georgian drink is called brandy.