See how an enology grad mixed old- and new-world winemaking methods to help develop the special vintage now available for purchase

Senior Nikoloz Managadze is balancing the art of old-world winemaking with a modern flair thanks to his experience over the past year working at the Fresno State Winery.

The Republic of Georgia native helped the nation’s largest campus winery craft the sixth edition of its new 2026 Graduate’s Reserve wine – the first white wine in the series – that is now available for sale online and in person at the Gibson Farm Market. 

This past August, he began working with fellow Fresno State seniors Kaylee Manriquez, Juan Lopez, Faith Swope and Addison Todd to create a blend that includes Chardonnay, Albariño and Fiano wines that were made by students on campus.

“It was a new challenge to create our first blend together, and we were happy with how it turned out,” Managadze said. “It offers freshness and a moderately complex profile with fruit aromas and long-lasting flavors.”

Only 60 cases of this special vintage are available from the winery, which capped a busy year in which students helped process wine grapes from 15 respected vineyards throughout the state.

For those looking for gift ideas, the Graduate’s Reserve wine was released just in time as Fresno State graduates and families prepare to celebrate commencement season.  Managadze and his peers will participate in the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology ceremony from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, May 15, at the Save Mart Center.

For Managadze, who grew up in the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi, the wine served as a fitting contrast for his Jordan College honors research project in which he analyzed the chemical compositions of four, Qveri-style wines from his home country.

With over 8,000 years of winemaking history, the Republic of Georgia lays claim as the birthplace of winemaking, and boasts over 2,500 wineries and 525 indigenous grape varieties. 

Its traditional Qveri-style wines use clay, earthen vessels that were historically stored underground during the fermentation process to keep the wines cool. The clay containers also add a unique taste compared to wines stored in steel tanks or wooden barrels.

Georgian white wines using this process often offer an amber or orange appearance and a more full-bodied taste since the wine ferments with macerated grape skins, seeds and stems. In comparison, modern white wines are normally pressed to use only the grape juice without the grape and vine remnants at the start of the winemaking process. 

“There’s not a lot of research on the actual composition of Qveri wines and the effects of the clay on wine composition,” Managadze said, “since only about 5% of Georgian wines use this method. Georgian wines are surging in popularity, including in the United States, so it’s important to have data to show how they’re different from a research perspective.”

In his analysis, he studied the sensory responses and chemical differences of four types of Qveri wines and the clay vessels’ effects on the phenolic compounds, pH, tannins, bitterness, acidity and other characteristics.

Dr. Qun Sun, who oversaw the research project, said she enjoyed learning about the old-world winemaking style.

Managadze said that Georgian wineries are now importing over 1 million bottles each year to the United States, and this special winemaking method is also being used by a California winery, Story Winery, located in the Amador foothills east of Sacramento. Its winemaker also has Georgian family ties, and is using the same clay vessel technique to make wines like Chardonnay.

Before choosing Fresno State’s world-renowned viticulture and enology program, Managadze had some prior experience with filtration and blending through a family business that operates a mobile wine bottling service, the only one in its country. After working and traveling with his father, Vasil, a  wine company CEO and former head of The National Wine Agency of Georgia, he saw an exciting career as he met winemakers across the country.

Around the time of his graduation In May, he will return the favor to take his father on a tour of the Fresno State Winery. The younger Managadze looks forward to showing his father where he helped manage the wines in the cellar room, gained hands-on experience during the harvest crush and other responsibilities tied to filtration, distillation and blending wines.

Four years ago, Managadze was accepted to over 20 universities across the nation, but training at Fresno State was too good an opportunity to pass up. Besides being an active member of the campus Enology Society and Viticulture Club, he has also served as secretary and vice president of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. And he earned top undergraduate student honors from the Department of Viticulture and Enology. 

Next, he looks forward to a harvest internship at the Chappellet Winery, which is famous for its Cabernet Sauvignon and is one of the top, family-owned wineries in Napa Valley. 

“I gained a wide range of experience at Fresno State,” Managadze said. “It’s one of the best academic universities for enology, while also providing hands-on experience in all parts of the winemaking process. The research part was equally enlightening and helped me better understand the chemistry behind fermentation, and new ways to appreciate all types of wine.”