At Wine Republic in Yerevan, eight of us organized a grand tasting of wines. Everybody who participated brought at least one bottle. The group consisted of the head winemaker & marketing team of Armenia Wine Company (the biggest winery in Armenia), the proprietor of the wine bar, and ourselves.

We had the opportunity to sample wines from Argentina, Armenia, France, Georgia, Germany, and Spain. A few of the wines were world class including a Robert Parker darling from Ribera del Duero, a Pinot Noir from Germany, and Zorah from Armenia. Most of the wines showed fairly well with only one bad bottle.

It was a fun evening of tasting, talking, and sharing ideas. A perfect example of what makes sharing wine with people so enjoyable.

M. Chapoutier , Schieferkopf, Sylvaner 2013, Alsace, France

At first, we thought that this was a Riesling but its shy and neutral nose spoke otherwise. Later we found that this was the grape Sylvaner. This white wine is nice enough with some floral notes teaming with lychee and melon flavors. It was very well made by left us wanting for more.

Khareba, Monastery Wine, Otskanuri Sapere 2012, Imereti, Georgia

This is made from a rare red grape Otskhanuri Sapere in West Georgia. It is made by one of the largest companies in Georgia and is fermented in traditional Georgian qvevri (buried terra-cotta vessels.) Our previous experience with this bottle was promising and it showed even better this evening. The wonderful sour raspberry, cherry, earth, and grapefruit flavors are accompanied by dirt, tobacco, and mineral notes. We brought this wine to the group and everyone was very intrigued by the wine. Excellent depth and flavor profile. 

Dalvina, Oxhoft, Syrah 2011, Strumichko-Radovishki, Macedonia

This was brought by the winemaker himself, Mr Josef Watzl, who no longer makes wine in Macedonia. This Syrah has a very complex nose that had dark cherry, spice, earth, and blackcurrant. On the palate, it tasted like a mix between a dirty Rhone Syrah and a fruitier Shiraz from Australia. The wine changes very quickly in the glass and gets your mind going. The body is lighter than one might expect from the nose.

Armenia Wine Company, Kangun, 2016, Aragatsotn, Armenia

A new wine that will be launched soon. This was a sample that Josef brought with him, he is now the head winemaker at Armenia Wine Company. The grape Kangun was used for brandy production by the Soviets in USSR times because of its hardiness and resistance to the cold winters. This is full of explosive pine, pineapple, and melon flavors with rich mineral flavors. A very simple and enjoyable table white wine.

Armenia Wine Company, Kangun Off-Dry 2016, Aragatsotn, Armenia 

This wine was another sample brought by Josef Watzl who is now the head winemaker at Armenia Wine Company. It was made to introduce people into drinking dry wines. It has about 10g/L of sugar and is the type of wine that would make both sweet-wine and dry wine drinkers happy. It has wonderful and explosive flavors that are very similar to well done late harvest Rieslings.

Old Bridge, Reserve Dry Red, 2012, Vayots Dzor, Armenia

The native grape Areni is made is so many different styles but this is the most honest expression of the grape that we have come across. Old Bridge is made in small quantities from a lovely man in Vayots Dzor. The wine has a beautiful ruby color and shows lots of sour cherry, mineral, dirt, and a touch of softwood from the Caucasian oak. This wine is by no means industrial and has lots of energy and life behind it. The flavors are extremely bright on the palate, a very cheerful wine.

Maínetes, Petit Verdot, 2012, Jumilla, Spain

Petit Verdot is becoming very big in Spain now and this wine is from Jumilla which is dominated by plantings of Monastrell (Mourvedre). This wine was the darkest of the evening besides the Ribera del Duero. It smells of herbs, stems, greens, dark berry, and earth. The wine has nice structure and is well made but tastes leaner than you would expect from an area that receives so much sun.

Bodegas JA Calvo Casajús, NIC, 2010, Ribera del Duero, Spain

This wine is 100% Tempranillo and from a small producer in Ribera del Duero. This vintage received 93 points from Robert Parker. This wine is extremely rich yet elegant at the same time. It manages to be fruit forward without being too jammy. The wine has wonderful flavors of black cherry, dirt, minerals, spice, and black pepper. Grace, power, and elegance in one package.

Zorah, Karasi, 2014, Vayots Dzor, Armenia

This is a new vintage of Areni from this wonderful producer in Armenia. Zorah is the most heralded Armenian wine as the 2010 vintage was featured in Bloomberg’s “Top Ten Wines of 2012.” This smells and feels very much like an Italian wine – Chianti Classico-esque. The wine is fermented in concrete eggs and aged in karas (amphora.) The nose has sour cherry, grass, earth, minerals, tobacco and a touch of smoke – simply wonderful nose. The palate is full of sour cherry, earth, minerals, and smooth tannins – simply beautiful wine

Kataro, Dry Red Wine, 2013, Nagorno-Karabakh

Made from the indigenous grape Khndoghni in the hotly disputed region (or country depending on the source) of Nagorno Karabakh. This is the basic red wine from this family owned and operated producer in the region. Khndoghni has a lot of potential and this wine is a little rough around the edges but shows nice dark color, dark fruit, earth, dirtiness, and firm tannins. We personally love the reserve version of this wine, but on this evening this wine strutted some of its stuff.

Bodega Del Fin Del Mundo, Reserva Malbec 2013, Patagonia, Argentina

This wine tasted overheated, it probably wasn’t stored well – after a quick taste the bottle was thrown to the side.

Dr Heger, Vorderer Winklerberg, Spätburgunder, 2013, Badan, Germany

An exceptional Pinot Noir made from a German producer with a big-time reputation near the French border. This nose is wonderful with notes of light red fruit, sand, leaves, caramel, and a touch of wood. This Pinot Noir has beautiful texture and is very soft on the palate, the only gripe is the fact that it has a touch too much wood. It is oh so close to being a transcendent wine.

Sarduri, Dry Red, 2013 , Aragatsotn, Armenia

A very inexpensive wine made from 80% Kakhet and 20% Haghtanak which are both indigenous to Armenia. This wine drinks well past its price point. There are light red fruit, caramel, minerals, and wet sand aromas. The wine has a lot of sour cherries on the palate with a long finish complimented by the soft tannins. This winery has taken huge steps forward with each vintage.

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If you want to savor the exquisite flavor of Balkan wines, look no further than wineandmore.com. With many options from different winemakers, it’s easy to find exactly what your palate desires. Not sure which bottle is best for you? Try out one of their curated wine cases and discover the perfect vintage for any occasion!

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Want to learn more about wine?

Are you ready to discover the wonderful world of wines? Come join us at wineandmore.com, and let’s explore the incredible selection of delicious wines together! We can’t wait to share our passion for wine with you!

Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in this article are personal opinions and are not associated with any sponsors or business promotions.

The post A Night of Worldly Wines appeared first on Wine Travel.

For a listing of articles and videos on Georgian wines and wine travel in Georgia, check out our page Uncorking the Caucasus. To purchase the Kindle or paperback copy of the book Uncorking the Caucasus: Wines from Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia, please head to this Amazon product page.

Thanks to the first annual UNWTO Conference on Wine Tourism, we got the chance to return to Tbilisi, Georgia in the Fall of 2016. When we arrived in Georgia, there was one producer who was our top priority to visit.

We had dinner on a crisp September night with one of our favorite winemakers, Dr Irakli “Eko” Glonti, the owner of Lavignari Winery. We tasted nine wines from his 2015 vintage with journalists from Turkey, China, Russia, USA, Germany and the UK who were also in town for the conference.

Eko is a medical doctor turned geologist turned winemaker. His first vintage was 2011 and in a short amount of time, the Lagvinari wines found their way to the wine list of The Fat Duck. He is also a favorite of Master of Wine, Isabelle Legeron.

Walking into his home, you know you are in the presence of a true renaissance man. The house is covered wall to wall with books, paintings, and vinyl from all different parts of the globe. He does not allow visitors to come to his winery; the only way to taste his wines is if you are lucky enough to be invited to his home. A visit to Eko’s always promises to be memorable as you can see below. 

Big week in Tbilisi as people from all over the world are here to attend the first UN wine conference. We were joined by journalists from China, Turkey, Russia, USA, UK, and Germany at Eko’s. Everyone ended the night with praises for Lagvinari wines. #UncorkingTheCaucasus

A video posted by Exotic Wine Travel (@exoticwinetravel) on Sep 6, 2016 at 12:33am PDT

Lagvinari Wine

Eko is a true romantic but thinks methodically about his wines. As a medical doctor, he is concerned with the health of the soil that the grapes are grown in. He works with many small farmers, most with less than a half-hectare of grapes. All Lagvinari wines are fermented, macerated, and aged in traditional Georgian “qvevri” (buried clay vessels) with the exception of a batch of Saperavi he made in steel tanks in 2011.

The wines reflect who he is as a person in a big way – all of them are aromatic and more elegant than powerful. Lagvinari wines display subtle flavors that open up in the glass over time and a bit of tension broken up by moments of intensity. All of Eko’s wines are alive and full of emotion – they are delicious and intellectual at the same time. The best part is the approachability, Lagvinari wines can be recognized as great efforts by even novice tasters. 

The number of wines produced by Eko changes from year to year depending on the quality of the grapes. The 2015 vintage was described as tough emotionally and physically by Eko. He is not proud of the vintage and keeps insisting that the 2016’s are even better. 

Despite his opinions, I was blown away by the 15’s and feel that they are accessible to even non-adventurous palates. Georgian qvevri wines have the ability to confuse, confound, and even turn off many tasters. The Lagvinari wines are easy to understand for the first time qvevri drinkers and complex enough to satisfy the most critical palates.

In 2015, Eko made nine varietal wines from Tsitska, Tsolikouri, Chinuri, Krakhuna, Rkatsiteli, Goruli Mtsvane, Aladasturi, Ojaleshi, and Otskanuri Sapere. All of these wines are excellent, but here are our three favorites of the vintage. 

EXOTIC WINE TRAVEL’S PICKS

(You can find out more about our scoring system on the START HERE page.)

• Lagvinari, Tsolikouri 2015

This Tsolikouri saw four months of skin contact. It has the nice spring breeze nose with oranges, almonds, and green tea flavors. The wine changes throughout the glass and has some tannic grip. This wine is floral and fruity. It constantly ebbs and flows between a white and light red wine as it breathes.   4.3/5

• Lagvinari, Goruli Mtsvane 2015

The wine made from this grape looks slightly gray in color. Goruli Mtsvane is rare, and there are only a handful of Georgian producers working with it. This is absolutely wonderful to drink. The wine has hints of white fruits, greens, and nuts on the nose, but it feels and tastes like a red wine on the palate. The texture is rich with faint red fruits, backed by a wonderful juiciness. The tannins are big and chewy. 

Eko thinks that this may be his greatest achievement in 2015. After sampling, it’s hard to disagree with his sentiment.   4.4/5

• Lagvinari, Aladasturi 2015

What a wine! This is made in qvevri but many would not be able to tell. Aladasturi is a red grape that makes wines with light color. It needs some time to breath in a decanter before it shows its true identity. The nose is very reminiscent of an Oregon Pinot Noir – raspberries, strawberries, forest floor, earth, and leaves. The palate is both earthy and fruity, it tastes a little like a Cru Beaujolais. This is a wonderful red wine that can be served slightly chilled and was our favorite wine of the evening.   4.5/5

You May Also Enjoy
Amber Revolution: Orange Wine Now Gets A Voice (And Book)
The Unstoppable Progress in the Georgian Wine Scene

The ideas expressed in this article are personal opinions and are not associated with any sponsors or business promotions.

The post 2015 Lagvinari Wine from Georgia appeared first on Wine Travel.

Hello! Welcome to As Drunk By Exotic Wine Travel, a weekly column where we feature wines that are worth noting. The reviews featured in this series may be written by either one or the both of us. The featured wines can be from obscure or well-known wine regions. We hope that these wine recommendations will keep you gastronomically curious and your palate invigorated!

Gotsa Chinuri 2015

Beka Gotsa has a beautiful 4-hectare plot in Central Georgia. His home and winery are scenic at about 1,300 meters above sea level. He recently received his Demeter (biodynamic) certificate and produces wines with minimal intervention.

We first visited the Gotsa winery and home in the Fall of 2016. It’s a short and beautiful drive from Georgia’s capital Tbilisi. The sealed road to Gotsa is winding and boasts incredible views over the Asureti Valley. Turning off the road reveals a muddy, one-lane dirt road, which is the final leg of the journey to Gotsa Winery.

Gotsa produces several orange wines (amber wines), a rosé, and a few red wines all made from local grapes. All wines are qvevri wines, fermented and macerated in Georgian qvevri (buried terra-cotta vessels). The wines are made with wild, native yeasts and are not fined or filtered.

Beka has recently started the production of pétillant naturel or pét-nat wines from local grapes. These wines are sparkling wines that are bottled before fermentation is finished, resulting in natural carbonation. It was a blast (literally and figuratively) tasting through these exciting wines. We also got lots of yeast cells all over our clothes after opening multiple bottles.

Getting a taste of Gotsa’s first batch of Pét-Nat and it’s all quite excellent! Our fave is the Pét-Nat made from the indigenous Georgian variety Tsitska. Pét-Nat is an unfiltered sparkling wine made in method ancestrale where the wine is made without additional sugar and bottled before primary fermentation is finished. #UncorkingTheCaucasus

A post shared by Exotic Wine Travel (@exoticwinetravel) on Sep 13, 2016 at 12:38pm PDT

All of Gotsa’s wines are lovely, but we found ourselves frequently revisiting the Gotsa Chinuri 2015. Chinuri is a grape that we fell in love ever since first visiting the country in 2015. There are only a handful of producers working with the grape and it makes amber wines that are not as tannic as other Georgian grapes. They make for a wonderful introduction to newbies to the macerated wine world.

Could this be the best Chinuri in Georgia? It is one of our favorites for sure. For a wine that has spent eight months on the skins, this is weightless on the palate. Pineapple, yellow peach, nuts, and a touch of red fruit round out the flavor profile. Tangy acidity with a tiny bit of tug from the tannins. This is a beautiful effort and one helluva wine, we can’t wait to try the 2016 vintage.

The post Gotsa Chinuri 2015 (Georgian Amber Wine) appeared first on Wine Travel.

Welcome to As Drunk By Exotic Wine Travel, a new weekly column where we feature wines that are worth noting. The wines featured in this series may be written by either one or the both of us. The featured wines can be from obscure or more well-known wine regions. Sit back, grab a glass, and discover new and exciting wines with us!

Pheasant’s Tears Chitistvala 2015

Pheasant’s Tears will always hold a special place in our hearts. They were the first qvevri wines that we tasted and really enjoyed. They were the only Georgian wines that we knew about when we first went to the country in 2015.

In late 2016, we returned to Georgia to launch our first wine book. During that time we spent a lot of time with John Wurdeman, Co-Founder of Pheasant’s Tears. He is an American artist that moved to Georgia and fell in love with the culture. By sheer chance, he met a local winemaker and his life changed from that point. There’s plenty about him on the internet, just Google his name.

The winery is near the hilltop town of Sighnaghi. The town towers over the Kakheti valley and feels lifted out of a fairytale with its restored medieval architecture. John also has a restaurant in the center of Sighnaghi.

We took a tour of the vineyards and had a humble lunch on top of the winery. Several excellent salad and vegetable dishes were accompanied by several pastes consisting of walnuts, seeds, and unique Georgian spices. The juicy barbecued meat followed. It added up to be a perfect meal with good company under the warmth of the Kakhetian sun. A perfect late-Autumn day in the vineyards.

The lunch was paired with several Pheasant’s Tears wines. We’ve tasted the entire portfolio previously but were impressed with how well the wines made of Shavkapito, Tavkveri, and Rkatsiteli showed on that day. All of the wines paired wonderfully with the fresh food.

Later that evening, an intense wind storm rolled into Sighnaghi. So intense that pieces of roofs were flying all over and the power in the entire town went out. We ate dinner at the Pheasant’s Tears restaurant under candle light. Even though there was no electricity, the show went on for John. He entertained both our group and a separate press group from Asia throughout the evening.

Some special bottles were opened that day and this Chitistvala really made me stop and think. It is made from the fruit of an old, tree-climbing vine that is allegedly 200 years old. Like all of John’s wine, it is fermented and matured in buried terracotta vessels, also known as the traditional Georgian qvevri. This wine doesn’t have a label and is made in small quantities. It is only available at the winery.

Rich and dense, this needs a lot of time to air. Beautiful aromas and depth of fruit emerge after the wine breathes. The nose has rose, sour plum, and green herbs. The palate is earthy at first but draws you in with wonderful raspberries and dark fruit mixed with balanced acidity and a little tension in the mouth. This is a fantastic effort that fans of both conventional and qvevri-style wines will approve. 

4.0/5   (You can find out more about our scoring system on the START HERE page.)

You May Also Enjoy:
The Unstoppable Progress in the Georgian Wine Scene 
Saperavi: Georgia’s Flagship Red Wine Grape
An Introduction to Georgian Qvevri Wine in Zagreb
A Night of Natural Wines in Tbilisi, Georgia

Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in this article are personal opinions and are not associated with any sponsors or business promotions

Thanks to the team at Living Roots for putting together a wonderful schedule.

The post Pheasant’s Tears Chitistvala 2015 appeared first on Wine Travel.

Georgian wine is back on our minds.

It took 18 months of non-stop travel through known and lesser-known wine regions to produce our first wine book. The same time that we were planning to release Uncorking the Caucasus, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) was hosting their inaugural Wine Tourism conference in Tbilisi, Georgia. With all these aligned, it was an easy choice to make: attend the conference, bring the book to its genesis, and return to the birthplace of our wine career (and arguably wine itself).

Georgia, the Host Country for UNWTO’s First Wine Tourism Conference

The Wine Economist, Mike Veseth, speaking at the 1st UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism.

The UNWTO’s conference on wine tourism was attended by over 200 participants—predominantly journalists, winemakers, winery staff, tour guides, tour company owners, wine tourism promoters, and civil executives—from both the public and private sectors of around 40 countries. It was the organization’s first effort at executing a conference of such scale and theme so understandably there were some kinks to be worked out. For us, the networking element outperformed the learning.

One of the biggest highlights for us was meeting wine author and The Wine Economist, Mike Veseth. Anyone who is interested in the business of wine and what makes the wine world tick should check out Mike’s books.

The content-rich conference was unfortunately affected by the poor choice of venue and setup, which were not conducive to large-group discussions. Most of the takeaways for us were more anecdotal than actual scalable, executable insights. The Georgian wines and dishes presented to the participants were one-dimensional and we felt a personal, visceral indignation about that.

Overall, it was still a good effort and we were thankful for this new initiative by UNWTO to cultivate learning and sharing in wine tourism. We will continue to participate in as many of this wine conference by UNWTO as possible.

Now back to the subject of Georgia…

A visit to Georgia is never complete without a touch and taste of Khinkali, the Georgian dumpling. Thank you UNWTO for organizing these activities for us.

The Other Dimensions of Georgian Wine

During the three-day event, participants got to visit and taste wines from two big-production wineries and a monastery. While the quality of the wines from those producers can be good, there are other facets of this exciting wine country that need to be shared in order for a visitor to truly comprehend the identity of Georgian wine.

Following the conference, we spent another month in the country and tasted over 150 Georgian wines that either we had missed on our first foray into the country or were new vintages of the wines that we already tried. Here are a few observations of the Georgian wine scene, exactly one year after our first trip.

Improving the Quality of Georgian Wine

In Georgia, the small band of natural, qvevri wine producers continues to raise the bar for quality. Tasting through the newest vintages left us astonished. Many of the wines blasted through the preconceptions people may have of natural wines. They are not raw, rustic products. The wines are not funky and mousy, but alive and quirky.

Natural wine producers who make wine in qvevri account for a minute portion of Georgia’s total wine output—around  10%.  Many of these producers are making very small amounts of wine, sometimes less than 3,000 bottles per year. These wines are already culturally significant; UNESCO named the practice of winemaking in qvevri as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2013. Despite this, a faction of the local industry believes that Georgia should focus on conventionally made wines—often times in bulk—in order to increase efficiency, gain market power, and attain a certain economic potential. To us, the qvevri-style wines are what truly speaks Georgia. But with a tiny outreach, small production, limited economies of scale, and aging winemakers who care about making wine in an unapologetically traditional way, who knows what the future holds. Perhaps this is part of the perennial charm of Georgia too: that its magic can only be understood by those who care enough to make the journey.

Unique Varieties Continue to Emerge in Georgia

During the time when Georgia was part of the USSR, the Soviets favored two varieties: Rkatsiteli for white wine and Saperavi for red wine. Both grapes are able to deal with harsh conditions and can maintain high levels of sugar and acidity without correction. The Soviets were concerned with quantity not quality, so they pulled the other varieties and focus on these two. Thankfully, many families were able to maintain small plots of the other Georgian varieties. Because of these families and their modest oenologic time capsules, the country has so many unique grapes to offer the world today; and from these time capsules, the renaissance of indigenous varieties continues.

The variety that we completed missed on our first trip is the scarce Usakhelouri from a small pocket of the Lechkumi region. The total harvest for one season can be as low as two tonnes! Wines made from Usakhelouri are among the most expensive and legendary Georgian wines. Rumor has it that Stalin tried to keep this variety a secret and always shipped the grapes to Moscow. Usakhelouri makes naturally semi-sweet wines that have alluring notes of red fruit, forest floor, and earth. Even if you’re not a sweet wine lover, they’ll still be a special treat to taste.

A naturally-semi sweet dessert wine made from Usakhelouri. There’s no other information about this wine besides what is indicated on this metal tag. We know nothing about it except it is made by a small family and it is delicious.

During our first visit to Georgia in the Fall of 2015, we had the impression that the variety Tavkveri was made mostly into rosé wine. This year, we got to discover many excellent Tavkveri varietal red wines, plus other reds made from fascinating local varieties with tuneful names like Ojaleshi, Shavkapito, and Chitisvala. The grapes from western Georgia continue to impress us: Aladasturi makes light and refreshing reds that can sometimes taste like Beaujolais Cru; Otskanuri Sapere is another variety hailing from the west and makes wines with mouth-puckering tartness.

Tasting Pheasant’s Tears Chitisvala, made with grapes harvested from 200-year-old vines.

As for white grapes, wines made from Chinuri remain one of our favorites. Chinuri made in qvevri maintains a high level of juiciness, texture, and fresh fruit flavors as opposed to being nutty and dried-fruit tasting like most oxidative-style wines. Wines made from Khikhvi, Tetra, and Kisi, be they fermented in steel tanks or in qvevri, are also worth checking out.

For us, the boundary-pushing protagonists are Rkatsiteli and Goruli Mtsvane. The qvevri-style wines made of Rkatsiteli are structured and nutty with startling red fruit flavors. We were floored by some qvevri-style Rkatsiteli wines and believe they can be some of the greatest wines of all time. To fully comprehend Rkatsiteli as a variety, look out for the fresh and fruity ones made in steel tanks as well. Goruli Mtsvane is a showstopper; a late-ripening grape that oxidizes easily, only a few winemakers make wine from this rare variety. The examples that we had from Lagvinari and Soliko delivered high-toned aromas and weighty body reminiscent of a light red wine. Both are exemplars of wine that gives you energy as opposed to just another alcholic beverage that takes away energy.

Georgian Bubbles!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what about a video?

Getting a taste of Gotsa’s first batch of Pét-Nat and it’s all quite excellent! Our fave is the Pét-Nat made from the indigenous Georgian variety Tsitska. Pét-Nat is an unfiltered sparkling wine made in method ancestrale where the wine is made without additional sugar and bottled before primary fermentation is finished. #UncorkingTheCaucasus

 

A video posted by Exotic Wine Travel (@exoticwinetravel) on Sep 13, 2016 at 12:38pm PDT

Charine loves bubbles and so we were thrilled to see a new movement amongst the natural Georgian wine producers. The sparklers that these producers are making are not méthode traditionelle (think Champagne) or charmant method (think Prosecco). These sparklers are known as pétillant-naturel, colloquially shortened to pét-nat, which translates to naturally sparkling.

Pét-nats are made via méthode ancestrale, the precursor to the modern Champagne method. Méthode ancestrale made a resurgence in the ’90s in Loire Valley, France when the late Christian Chaussard discovered this sparkler-making method by chance and coined the new term pétillant-naturel for this style. Today, Christian’s good friend and Georgia’s frequent visitor Thierry Puzelat continues to make pét-nats that cheer the world.

Pét-nats are made with spontaneous fermentation and then bottled before the primary fermentation is finished, without adding more yeast or sugar. With the natural yeast and sugar left in the bottle from the first unfinished fermentation, natural carbonation starts to build up in the bottle.

This technique of making sparkling wine can be volatile and variable, requiring a high level of expertise and experience in the cellar. We’ve heard many stories about the hysterical beginning of Georgian pét-nats, which include dealing with flying corks and shattered glasses in front of the media and guests. [Don’t worry about drinking pét-nats now, they are past the experimental stage.] One winemaker recalled an accident where several bottles exploded in his cellar and his bleeding staff exclaimed, “We don’t like this French way of making wine!”

Pét-Nat Rosé made from Tavkveri by Vincente, a Frenchman living in Georgia.

So how do Georgian pét-nats taste like? Crisp and delicious with vibrant fruit flavors. They are not as yeasty as Champagne but well-made examples can have a fine, persistent bead of bubbles that rivals sparklers made in méthode traditionelle. Georgian pét-nats, as are most pét-nats from other parts of the world, are sealed with a crown cap instead of a cork. They are low in alcohol and make candid and lively crowd-pleasers. Pét-nats are meant to be consumed young as further aging in the bottle is not expected to contribute to the wine’s complexity. The wines are often cloudy as most are not filtered though there are also winemakers who choose to do disgorging. These wines are something to keep your eye out for as Georgian wine gains popularity worldwide. The Georgian pét-nats from Gotsa, Okro’s Wines, Pheasant’s Tears, and Kidev erti are excellent.

New Places to Enjoy Wine in the Capital City, Tbilisi

It is laborious to find places in Georgia that are non-smoking. Because of this, our default hangouts in Tbilisi are the alternative themed Vino Underground and the swanky g.Vino wine bars. If you’re a non-smoker like us, wine bars are always a safe bet, though you do lose the bet once in awhile. For restaurants, Azarphesha is a great place to taste Georgian cuisine and drink wine without the distraction of smoke. All these three places are must-visits for gastronomy lovers touring the country. An impressive selection of international natural wines—including those of Chateau Musar, Marcel Lapierre, and Matassa—are also available at Vino Underground and Azarphesha. During this trip, we discovered two new establishments that are shaking up the wine scene.

Outside of the old town and near the upscale neighborhood of Vake is a new wine bar and shop named 8000 Vintages. The shop carries wine from over 100 Georgian producers and always has a large selection of Georgian wines available for tasting. The place is managed by WSET-certified Zaza Grigalashvili who is eager and patient in helping patrons navigate the massive selection of Georgian wines. If you’re interested in learning more about Georgian wine, Zaza leads a weekly tasting class at 8000 Vintages in the Georgian language, though he does speak English.

Visit 8000 Vintages in Tbilisi on any day and you’ll be welcomed with a wide selection of Georgian wines that you can sample.

Thanks to Zaza and his team, we had a tasting and book signing event at 8000 Vintages. The event was a success as we led a packed house through four wines and signed books afterward. The crowd consisted of wine lovers from all over the world, local winemakers, diplomats, and members of the expat social media platform internations.org.

Fond memories from our book launch at 8000 Vintages.

There is a new and innovative restaurant in Tbilisi as well called Culinarium. It was featured on Anthony Bourdain’s show Parts Unknown. Chef Tekuna Gachechiladze has experience in the restaurant business carried over from places like New York and Hong Kong. Culinarium features Georgian cuisine with a modern twist in a hip yet unpretentious atmosphere. A small but satisfying selection of Georgian wines is also available.  On Sundays, the restaurant does an Asian brunch with international takes on dishes such as hot and sour soup, dumpling, and Pad Thai. If you love Asian food or if you love amber wine, don’t miss the chance of tasting the pairing of both at Culinarium. Like champagne, we believe amber wine is the most food-friendly style of wine that can go well with just about any kind of cuisine, including spicy Asian food.

Georgia is a mecca for pure flavors, natural wine, and organic food. In a year, we’ve witnessed how the country evolved into an iconoclast in gastronomy. Georgia has so much freshness and purity to its credit that the lives conducted by the rest of us from modern cities seem tainted.

More Government Support, More Specialized Wine Tourism Operators

The wine industry is one of the most important sectors of Georgia’s economy. In 2014, the National Wine Agency of Georgia was established as an entity under the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia with a mandate to aid in the development of the wine and wine tourism industries.  This has led to a higher level of collaboration between the government and private sectors.

During our recent trip to Georgia, in the span of two months, there were two wine-centric events organized by the National Wine Agency. The construction of a wine museum is also underway.

At one of the events organized by National Wine Agency. Charine met with Archil Natsvlishvili, from Kerovani Winery, and Givi Chagelishvili, Stalin’s last living winemaker.

Besides the local support, international government agencies such as USAID are also having their presence felt through their support in economic development. While they do not work directly with the wine sector, wine tourism is an indispensable product of the tourism and agricultural sectors, both of which are key generators in the sustainable economic development of Georgia.

“We are working on a regional tourism development initiative in Samtskhe-Javakheti, wherein we are facilitating public and private sector stakeholder mobilization and coordination, new product development, and regional marketing and promotion support. The expected result of this work will be the creation of a sustainable public-private destination management organization for the region that can coordinate and implement regional strategies for tourism development and regional promotion moving forward. More broadly, we are working to improve operational and marketing capacity of rural guesthouses in Samegrelo, Shida Kartli, Samegrelo, and the Pankisi Valley,” said Brian King, Chief of Party for the USAID Zrda Activity in Georgia, implemented by Chemonics International, Inc.

Further, there is also an uptick in specialized wine tour operators like Taste Georgia and Living Roots.

All these mean wine travel in Georgia is more accessible and more comfortable than ever before.

Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in this article are personal opinions and are not associated with any sponsors or business promotions. 

Related:

1. Our Stint on Georgian National Television

John Wurdeman, the co-founder of Pheasant’s Tears winery is an advocate for traditional Georgian winemaking. He’s also a co-host of the mid-day talk show at Georgia Dream Studios. During our stay in Tbilisi, he invited us to be his guests and gave us the opportunity to talk about our book on the show. This was the first time that we had to work with translation in an interview and was thankful for John being a great steward of the conversations. You can see the 21-minute clip of our cameo below.

2. For a listing of Exotic Wine Travel’s articles and videos on Georgian wines and wine travel in Georgia, check out our page Uncorking the Caucasus. To purchase the Kindle or paperback copy of the book Uncorking the Caucasus: Wines from Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia, please head to this Amazon product page.

3. Humble Magic in Georgian Capital’s Restaurant Renaissance

The post The Unstoppable Progress in the Georgian Wine Scene appeared first on Wine Travel.

Exploring Georgia through the Vines

While several countries  may have evidence for being the birthplace of grape wine, Georgia is the most outspoken about it. Some historians and linguists believe that “gvino/ღვინო”, the Georgian word for wine, is the precursor of vino, vin, wein, and wine. Scientists have found residue of wine in clay jars in Georgia dating back to 6000 BC, which means the country’s wine history could very well be over 8,000 years old. According to a source on the ground (we weren’t able to validate this claim): in the 6th century, Georgia became the first country to establish viticulture as an academic major. To date, there are more than 500 indigenous grape varieties identified, though only about 30 varieties are used in winemaking and a handful is used widely. The traditional Georgian way of making wine in buried clay vessels called qvevri is a UNESCO-listed tradition.

About Saperavi

“sah-per-ra-vee “
True to its name which translates to “dye” in English, Saperavi produces wine that’s inky, deep red to black in color, often accompanied by a full body and profound texture. Like Alicante Bouschet, it is teinturier with dark skin, dark flesh, and dark juice. But different from the fate of Alicante Bouschet, which is rarely used to make varietal wine, Saperavi is known to fly solo more often than not in Georgia.

Originated from Kakheti in eastern Georgia, this is the most widely planted red wine variety in the country. Today, Saperavi can also be found in the vineyards of Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Moldova, Russia, and USA.

Due to the grape’s sapid tannin, marked acidity, and myriad characteristics such as black fruit, licorice, chocolate, smoked meat, and savory spice, it is extremely versatile and can be made into rosé, dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and fortified wines. A well-made, dry Saperavi wine is redolent of a mix between Blaufrankisch and Syrah. A well-made Saperavi wine can also express an astonishing amount of energy in the mouth and potential for aging. It’ll compel you to find that moment, that person, and that dish with the same amount of intensity to match with the wine.

With over 4,000-hectare of Saperavi vines planted, it is understandable that the Georgian Saperavi wines cover a range of quality. In this article, we’ll highlight the ones that have impressed us over and over again.

Lisa Granik MW mentioned in an interview that Saperavi wines made in the traditional qvevri style are getting most of the attention. While we, too, are supporters of Georgian winemakers who fight to preserve their identity and tradition through the qvevri, we’d like to shed some light on the ones that don’t fully conform to the traditional method and yet are just as spectacular in their sensory merits and story-telling capability as their laissez-faire counterpart.

Lagvinari, Saperavi, 2011

Dr Eko Glonti is a true renaissance man who has an affinity for art, history, literature, and music. A medical-doctor-turned-geologist-turned-winemaker, his wines are often described as clean, balanced, and distinctly Georgian yet suitably easy for any wine lover to enjoy. He makes between 15,000 and 30,000 bottles of wine every year.

The Lagvinari wine cellar is located in the basement of Dr Eko Glonti’s house in Tbilisi, Georgia. Here’s him selecting the treats for the evening.

Eko currently works with a group of local grape growers to craft his wine in the vineyards, though he has plans to acquire a few plots of his own in the near future. All of his wines are monovarietal, made from indigenous varieties of the Imereti wine region in western Georgia; the grapes are fermented in qvevri with natural yeast; the Lagvinari wines are unfined, unfiltered, and a small amount of sulfur is added only before bottling.

The only exception is this Saperavi, which is indigenous to Kakheti and fermented in steel tanks. This is the first and the last vintage of Saperavi that Lagvinari is producing; but fret not, there are still quite a few bottles circulating in the market.

The Lagvinari wines have gained international attention as it is featured on the menus of several Michelin-starred restaurants in London and media outlets like Jancis Robinson and Financial Times.

Tasting Notes

A quick sniff gives the impression of tiramisu! Mocha and marzipan, spiced by pepper. A second, deeper sniff reveals plum, blackberry, black pepper, and earthy notes. The palate reflects the bouquet—fruit driven with traces of peppery and savory characteristics. An inky, deep red, almost opaque wine with huge body and texture. Structure and balance are precise, with medium-plus acidity, and powerful but ready tannins. A wine that has the potential for long cellaring. It tastes better with at least two hours of decanting prior to drinking.

We tasted this wine multiple times, on multiple occasions, with multiple permutations of people. The feedback from those who drank the wine for the first time range from “This is fucking sexy,” to “How is it possible that there’s no oak in this,” and thoughtful notes like “This could easily appeal to Croatian red wine, specifically Plavac Mali, lovers. Sour cherry, prune, ripe dark fruit, fragrant and clean expression of variety and oaky spiciness; complex and refreshing, with youthful tannins—would be very interesting to taste after a few years.”

Jakeli, Saperavi, Unfiltered Dry Red, 2014

We had the 2012 and 2014 vintages and loved both but preferred this newer release. For practicality sake, it also makes more sense to review the latest vintage due to market supply and availability. The 2012 vintage received 89 points from Wine Enthusiast.

Both are great wines. 2012 gives the immediate impression that it’s more tart, more savory, spicier, and driven by black fruit whereas 2014 is more luscious, more sweet brown spice instead of piquant black pepper, and has both black and red fruit notes.

Photo taken from facebook.com/jakeliwines

Established in 2001 in the village of Khashmi in Kakheti, Jakeli is a pioneer of certified organic wine in Georgia. The first commercial vintage is 2008 and the first organic vintage is 2009. The total vineyard size is 5.5 hectares, with vines planted at 760-meter above sea level on the southwest foothill of the Tsiv Gombori mountain range. The vineyards are never irrigated and are sprayed with copper and sulfur at most five times a year. Some biodynamic practices are also incorporated. The grapes are hand-picked. Fermentation is done in steel tanks without the addition of synthetic chemical or cultivated yeast. Sulfur is used in the small amounts only after the malolactic fermentation. All Jakeli wines are aged for at least 18 months in both the steel tank and bottle before release.

 

Tasting Notes

The wine is extremely dark, almost black, with a luscious and silky mouthfeel. It exudes beautiful notes of chocolate, tobacco leaf, game, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, red plum, red currant, blackberry, and licorice—which makes me think of Mexican mole sauce poured over Christmas pudding. Funky, but definitely an intriguing idea. The acidity leads the flavors into a long finish, highlighted by grippy, sweet tannins. This wine benefits from a few hours of decanting before consumption.  This is an exemplar of Saperavi’s potential. 

Want More? Need More? Can’t Get Enough of Saperavi Now?

Another qvevri wine to check out is Satrapezo Saperavi. Jamie Goode wrote a review about the 2006 vintage and described the wine as “astonishingly good”. This wine is produced by Telavi Wine Cellar, one of the largest wineries in Georgia. And with a large company comes a large distribution network. Check out its worldwide distribution list here and you might be able to procure a bottle of Georgian Saperavi wherever you are. We’ve tasted the more recent vintages of Satrapezo Saperavi, enjoyed them, and wrote about them in our book Uncorking the Caucasus.

It’s a wine that would offer a favorable first impression to people who are new to Saperavi or qvevri wine. It is also the most conventional-, European- and oaky- tasting wine among all the qvevri wines that we’ve tasted—which can be a good thing, or unexciting.

Also, check out this episode of Exotic Wine Travel where we tasted two other Saperavi wines, Khareba Saperavi Premium Gold 2010 and Kortavebis Marani Saperavi 2014 side by side.

Search or buy Saperavi on Wine Searcher.
Learn more about Georgian wine in our article The Unstoppable Progress in the Georgian Wine Scene.
This article is not associated with endorsements of any kind.

The post Saperavi: Georgia’s Flagship Red Wine Grape appeared first on Wine Travel.

In sharing our interviews, we hope to show you a more intimate side of us, our struggles as wine travelers and entrepreneurs, and our passion for the same magic-in-a-bottle that you love. A reminder for ourselves and perhaps relevant to you too: as we tackle the new year, don’t forget how important it is to celebrate the small victories in your life, and also be open about your shortcoming and weaknesses. In this new year, let’s all learn to be more relatable, more human, and invite each other to be a part of our own stories.

 Wine Two Five Podcast

The Wine Two Five podcast first caught our ear in May 2016.  The first episode we listened featured the famous wine educator Karen MacNeil. Several months later, we were asked to be guests on the podcast. With a slogan like “Everyday drinking for everyday people”, Wine Two Five fully delivers on its mission of highlighting personalities from the wine industry and making wine simple and fun. The podcast is run by two enthusiastic hosts, Stephanie Davis and Valerie Caruso.

Thanks to technology! We were in Armenia, Stephanie was in Italy, and Valerie was in Colorado, USA at the time of recording. In fact, we were in the middle of a wine-fuelled party at the ArmAs winery (it was the owner’s birthday party) when the call happened. Big thanks to the team at ArmAs that helped us to look for a private room without ambient noise to do the call and for being accommodating to our needs! We had a wonderful time chatting with Valerie and Stephanie and could have gone on for hours.

GDS TV, Georgia

In 2016, we spent five weeks in Georgia to get updated on the changes in the wine industry, acquaint ourselves with the wineries that we missed out during our one-month research trip in 2015, and also to promote our book, Uncorking the Caucasus: Wines from Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia. On the last few days of our stay, our dear friend John Wurdeman had just come back from Ukraine to Tbilisi, Georgia. It was very thoughtful of him to invite us to a national TV daily show that he was hosting.

https://www.facebook.com/GDSofficial/videos/1208306375924662/

During this live talk show, we share our experience traveling through Georgia, why the Georgian wines are quite different from wines from the rest of the world, our favorite winery in Georgia, our favorite Georgian dish, the mission of Exotic Wine Travel, what keeps us going and what tears us apart as a couple traveling and doing business together.

CivilNet TV, Armenia

As in every wine country that we traveled through, there’s always a generous friend who believes in our work and goes above and beyond to help us with forwarding our project. In the case of Armenia, it was Vahe Keushguerian, winemaker at Keush winery and project manager at Karas winery. Vahe introduced us to Roubina, the presenter at CivilNet and from there, an interview segment was arranged. When we enquire about the positioning of CivilNet, a staff said,”Like CNN, but more credible.” CivilNet.TV is platform that champions a new movement of journalism—with livestreaming and on-demand coverage about Armenia and the Caucasus. The presentation is done in both Armenian and English. We’ve enjoyed many of the videos on their website and are humbled to be featured on the channel.

In this interview, we talk about how we ended up traveling through the Caucasus, our travel experiences in Armenia, thoughts on Armenian wine, the definition of “the birthplace of wine”, and the anecdotal stories we gathered from our wine exploration.

#UncorkingTheCaucasus: Most Shared Articles of 2016

After seven months of traveling through the wine regions in Western Europe and the Caucasus, Exotic Wine Travel was established in December 2015 with the objective to promote wines from the lesser-known wine regions. You can read more about the genesis of Exotic Wine Travel and our transition from our past life to present here.

Uncorking the Caucasus is the first of a series of wine travel books that we will be releasing. This book is designed to serve as a foundational introduction to the wines of Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey. The book was released on 1 October 2016. In the two months prior to the title hitting the shelf, we started writing articles about the wines from Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey. Many more articles were released after the book was published.

Here are the top three most popular articles based on the number of shares on social media.

Trendsetter: Vahe Keushguerian from Armenia

Trendsetter: Oliver Gareis from Amadeus Winery, Turkey

A Brief History of Wine from the Caucasus

The post Making #UncorkingTheCaucasus appeared first on Wine Travel.

Part of this article was originally published on Wine Folly. This article has been repurposed with their permission. This version of the article includes wine recommendations. The writing is done by Exotic Wine Travel and all images are produced by Wine Folly. 

Somewhere in what is today’s Transcaucasia, mankind planted a new chapter in history. There’s more to wine than Old World and New World; welcome to the Ancient World of wine.

Areni

“ah-reh-nee”
This red grape hails from a town of the same name in south Armenia. Its thick skin protects it from the summer sun and the harsh, high-elevation, continental climate. It makes red wine with medium ruby hue, fresh acidity, and soft tannins. Wines made from this grape can have sour cherry, herb, spice, and grassy flavors–which, at times, remind us of a cross between Pinot Noir and Sangiovese. The grape gained some international fame when Zorah Karasi, a varietal wine made from Areni, was featured in the list of Bloomberg’s Top Ten Wines of 2012.

Khndoghni

“khhhung-douh-nee”
The name Khndoghni is derived from the Armenian word “khind”, which means laughter. This is a native red wine variety from the controversial Nagorno-Karabakh area, which–depending on the source–is considered a region of Armenia, a separate nation, or a part of Azerbaijan. This grape has high tannins and offers interesting characteristics of black and blue fruits, cotton candy, and earth. Wines made from this grape have grippy tannins, precise structure, and exhibit aging potential. Khndoghni is usually aged in Caucasian oak barrels that are sourced from the same area.

Voskehat

“voh-ski-hut”
If Areni is the signature red grape of Armenia, then Voskehat is the poster child of Armenian white wine. Voskehat translates to “golden seed”. It is a hardy and thick-skinned grape that gets along well with the hot summer and bitterly cold winter of the high Armenian Plateau. Almost all the winemakers in Armenia who make a white wine use this grape, either in varietal wine form or in a blend. It makes smooth- and medium-bodied white wine with floral, savory, tropical fruit, and stone fruit notes. We have a recommendation for a Voskehat varietal wine in Voskevaz: A New Face in the Armenian Wine Scene.

Exotic Wine Travel’s Choice: Kataro Reserve 2013

A true product of Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh. This wine is made from an indigenous variety called Khndoghni and is aged in local oak sourced from the same area. A dark, rich, and massively structured wine. It is more of an earthy (than fruity) wine with other flavors of black fruit, chocolate, and smoke. A unique and well-made wine; it has the stuffing to age very well and can be paired wonderfully with Khorovats (Armenian barbecue).

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Goruli Mtsvane

“go-roo-lee mahts-vah-nay”
This is a different variety from Mtsvane, which grows in almost every region in Georgia. Goruli Mtsvane means “green from Gori”, and Gori is a city in south-central Georgia. A late-ripening grape that oxidizes easily, only a few winemakers make wine from this rare variety. When made in the qvevri, it delivers one of the most interesting experiences in wine. Its high-toned aromas range from peach, lime, apricot, wildflower, pine, and nut. On the palate, the weighty body is reminiscent of a light red wine.

Rkatsiteli

“rah-kats-ee-teh-lee”
Rkatsiteli, whose name means “red stem,” is a ubiquitous white wine variety that comprises nearly half of Georgia’s vineyard plantings. It is a hardy and easy-to-grow grape as it is resistant to cold and maintains a high level of acidity and sugar as it ripens. It can be made into dry, semi-sweet, and fortified wines, and also brandy. This variety is treated in both the traditional Georgian qvevri-style with extended skin contact and conventional-style white wine technique. In the conventional style, it becomes a well-balanced, medium-bodied white wine with a touch of spice. When made in qvevri style, it takes on an amber tone, a forceful structure, and beautiful creaminess on the palate. What Chardonnay is for California, this grape is to Georgia. Check out Exotic Wine Travel’s 16 Wines Of 2016 for the tasting notes on Okro’s Wine Rkatsiteli 2010.

Saperavi

“sah-per-ra-vee “
Saperavi means “color/dye.” This is the most widely planted red wine variety in Georgia. Like Alicante Bouschet, it is teinturier with red flesh and red juice. This dark-skinned and dark-fleshed grape makes deep red, inky, and often opaque wine with heavy body and profound texture. Some wineries in the country label it as black wine instead of red. Due to the grape’s marked acidity and myriad characteristics of black fruit, licorice, chocolate, earth, smoked meat, tobacco, savory spice, and pepper, it is extremely versatile and can be made into rosé, dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and fortified wines. A dry red Saperavi wine resembles a mix between Blaufrankisch and Syrah. Check out our tasting notes for Artizani Saperavi, Lagvinari Saperavi, and Jakeli Saperavi.

Also, here’s an episode of Exotic Wine Travel where we tasted two of our favorite Saperavi wines, Khareba Saperavi Premium Gold 2010 and Kortavebis Marani Saperavi 2014, side by side.

Usakhelouri

“oosa-hello-oory”
Usakhelouri translates to “a grape with no name.” A native of western Georgia, this is an extremely low-yielding and rare variety that grows on the slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains. The total annual harvest is only a few tons. It is grown in a few small, remote villages and can be made into dry red or naturally semi-sweet wine with a high price tag. The wines made from this variety are aromatic and velvety, with vibrant acidity and light tannins. The flavors are red fruit, purple flower, mint, pepper, and forest floor. The semi-sweet wine made from Usakhelouri is a wonderfully complex wine that somehow reminds us of what Pinot Noir might taste like if it were made into a dessert wine.

Exotic Wine Travel’s Choice: Soliko Our Wine Goruli Mtsvane 2015

Made from the rare grape variety Goruli Mtsvane, this wine is fermented, macerated, and aged in traditional Georgian qvevri. The wine has flavors of orange peel, peach concentrate, and wild flowers, perked up by a slight tug from the tannins. A food-friendly, juicy wine.

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Boğazkere

“bow-ahz-keh-reh”
This grape is native to the Diyarbakir area in Southeast Turkey. It prefers to grow in a hot, dry climate, at high altitude. The name Boğazkere translates to “throat burner” – a possible reference to its strong tannins and medium acidity, which is reminiscent of Tannat. Boğazkere can be used as a blending grape and can also be made into a varietal wine. In varietal wine, it expresses notes of dark berry, pepper, dark chocolate, clove, eucalyptus, tobacco, and licorice. In our interview with Turkish wine maestro Burcak Desombre, she recommends the Kavaklidere Prestige as a fine example of this variety.

Emir

“eh-meer”
Native to and grown exclusively in the famous Cappadocia region of Turkey, this grape thrives in high altitude, volcanic soil, and diurnal temperature variation (hot during the day and cool at night). Its name translates to “lord/ruler,” as the wine made from Emir was once a popular choice at the local lords’ tables. It produces a smooth and crisp white wine with yellow-green hue. The flavor profile includes apple, yellow pear, pineapple, blood orange, kiwi, melon, and a touch of pine. Emir is often compared to Albarino and Pinot Grigio; while Sarah Abbot MW describes it as “a bit like Manseng but with more aromatics”.

Öküzgözü

“ur-kuz-gur-zuh”
This grape is native to the Elazig area in Eastern Turkey. It likes hot, dry summers, and cold winters, which matches up perfectly with the extreme continental climate of the Anatolian Plateau. The name means “ox eye,” which hints at its round and fleshy appearance. Öküzgözü has high acidity and floral aromas. On the palate, it leans towards raspberry, plum, pomegranate, brown spice, and earthy flavors. The high acidity is what stands out the most in this grape. It is often blended with Boğazkere for added structure. On its own, it makes some memorable, fruit-forward wines.

Exotic Wine Travel’s Choice: Kayra, Buzbag Bölge Serisi Elazig, Öküzgözü, 2012

This is a juicy, balanced, and delicious Turkish wine made from the indigenous variety Öküzgözü. If you are looking for a red wine that’s bright, fruity and without pretense, then this is a wine for you. This is produced by a big producer called Kayra who has many vineyards in eastern Turkey. The flavors are of sour cherry, fruit punch, and earth, with nice tanginess and smooth tannins. It goes extremely well Turkish grilled meat dishes.

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For a listing of articles and videos on Armenian, Georgian, and Turkish wines and wine travel in the Caucasus Region, check out our page Uncorking the Caucasus. To purchase the Kindle or paperback copy of the book Uncorking the Caucasus: Wines from Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia, please head to this Amazon product page. 

https://www.facebook.com/exowinetravel/videos/1091099150987466/

The ideas expressed in this article are personal opinions and are not associated with any sponsors or business promotions.

The post Ancient Wine Grape Varieties from Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey appeared first on Wine Travel.

In November, as part of our Uncorking the Caucasus book launch and promotion, we had a signing session along with a wine tasting class at 8000 Vintages in Tbilisi, Georgia.

8000 Vintages is located just about a 10-minute ride from the popular tourist zone in the Old Town. The name represents the age of Georgia’s winemaking history. There are over 150 Georgian wine producers represented in this wine shop and bar. Patrons can enjoy wine degustation, wine by the bottle, and wine-pairing dishes (mostly cheese and cold cut) in an Instagram-worthy setting here. If you are new to Georgian wine, don’t fret. This place boasts an in-house sommelier, Zaza Grigalashvili, who is knowledgeable about Georgian wines and is able to guide you through the wide selection. Take a peek at this stunning-looking wine outlet in this YouTube video appended:

For the book event, we had a perfect turnout of 40 people—a size large enough to create a festive mood and small enough for an intimate tasting session. The crowd consisted of locals, expats, enthusiasts, casual drinkers, diplomats, and winemakers. Four Georgia wines were presented and tasted at the session. These four wines were thoughtfully selected to:

• Show the participants that amber wines can be elegant and accessible. Contrary to popular belief, they aren’t always mousey, tannic, and challenging to unfamiliar palates.
• Present the work by a mix of big producer (Teliani Valley), artisanal qvevri wine producer (Tchotiashvili and Pheasant’s Tears), and new-generation young gun (Artizani).
• Let the participants experience the different expressions of a grape variety (Saperavi).

The tasting notes below are simpler than our usual style, with limited technical notes. The reason for this is during the session, we wanted to drop most of the detailed descriptors and help participants to “feel” the wines and articulate why they like or dislike each wine.

Exploring Georgian Wine at 8000 Vintages

1. Pheasant’s Tears Winery Mtsvane 2015
An aromatic nose dominated by orange peel and ripe stone fruit. On the palate, it is juicy, harmonious, and soft. A crowd pleaser and an easy introduction to amber wine as it is light and crisp. Pheasant’s Tears is mentioned in our book Uncorking the Caucasus as one of our favorite wineries in Georgia.

2. Kakha Tchotiashvili Rcheuli Qvevri Rkatsiteli 2013
This wine has a deep tangerine hue even though the label states it’s a white wine. The nose is more muted than the Pheasant’s Tears Mtsvane, but don’t be fooled because the protagonist is in the mouth. This wine is structured, expressive, with tannins that kick in on the mid-palate, and the end palate is precise and long. Flavors of apricot, peach, forest leaves, and a touch of earth. Rkatsiteli wines that have gone through extended periods of skin contact can be unique and delicious. They can be grippy but are incredibly food-friendly wines. Specifically for this wine, it can be paired well with many robust meat dishes.

3. Artizani Saperavi 2015 
Fermented with wild yeast in stainless steel tank and temperature control; no sulfite or additive was added;  unfiltered wine. The aroma takes awhile to open up. After some aeration, this wine expresses an honest interpretation of Saperavi—fresh burst of berries, forest floor and licorice in its aroma, with a surprising twist of floral characteristics on the palate. Great structure and balance; a well-made wine that can see many years of aging in the bottle and continue to blossom. This is the first vintage of Artizani and comes in a small production of 1,100 bottles.

4. Teliani Valley Georgian Winery Kindzmarauli 2013
This wine is mentioned in our book. Kindzmarauli is an appellation found in the Kvarli, Kakheti part of Georgia. Wines that bear the name of this appellation are always semi-sweet red made from the indigenous variety Saperavi. This wine is well-received by almost everyone, even the non-sweet wine lovers, at the event. On the nose, it’s full of toffee and tart plum; and in the mouth, it is reminiscent of a dark berry pie. With 35g/l of residual sugar, it surprisingly leaves no heaviness or coating sensation in the mouth. A perfect match for Churchkhela (traditional Georgian but candy) or a gamey stew.

Click here to view more photos from our book launch events.

Learn More About the Indigenous & Ancient Grape Varieties from Georgia

Mtsvane

“mits-vah-neh”
Short for Mtsvane Kakhuri, an ancient variety indigenous to the Kakheti region of southeast Georgia. Mtsvane means “green” in Georgian. This white variety is diverse and ramified, with many derivatives growing throughout Georgia. Mtsvane maintains a relatively high level of acidity even as the sugar level goes up. It is a hardy variety that can survive the cold winters in Georgia. The varietal wine made from Mtsvane is slightly greenish in color, with characteristics of peach, apricot, pineapple, citrus, and flowers, supported by delightful crispness. When produced in the qvevri, it produces a dark amber, sometimes reddish, wine. The body and flavors vacillate back and forth in the mouth between the semblances of red, rosé, and white wines. As a relatively aromatic variety, Mtsvane often plays a part in white blends. In some of the most famous appellations for Georgian white wines such as Manavi and Tsinandali, Mtsvane is blended with Rkatsiteli.

Rkatsiteli

“rah-kats-ee-teh-lee”
Rkatsiteli, whose name means “red stem”, is a ubiquitous white wine variety that comprises nearly half of Georgia’s vineyard plantings. It is a hardy and easy-to-grow grape as it is resistant to cold and maintains a high level of acidity and sugar as it ripens. It can be made into dry, semi-sweet, and fortified wines, and also brandy. This variety is treated in both the traditional Georgian qvevri style with extended skin contact and the conventional-style white wine technique. In the conventional style, it becomes a well-balanced, medium-bodied white wine with a touch of spice. When made in the qvevri style, it takes on an amber tone, a forceful structure, and beautiful creaminess on the palate. Rkatsiteli is to Georgia as Chardonnay is to California.

Saperavi

“sah-per-ra-vee “
Saperavi means “color/dye.” This is the most widely planted red wine variety in Georgia. Like Alicante Bouschet, it is teinturier with red flesh and red juice. This dark-skinned and dark-fleshed grape makes deep red, inky, and often opaque wine with heavy body and profound texture. Some wineries in the country label it as black wine instead of red. Due to the grape’s marked acidity and myriad characteristics of black fruit, licorice, chocolate, earth, smoked meat, tobacco, savory spice, and pepper, it is extremely versatile and can be made into rosé, dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and fortified wines. A dry red Saperavi wine resembles a mix between Blaufrankisch and Syrah.

Uncorking the Caucasus: Wines from Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia
is available on Amazon.

Thank you 8000 Vintages for hosting the event and providing tasting samples of the wines. 

You May Also Enjoy
Simon Woolf: Amber Revolution
The Unstoppable Progress in the Georgian Wine Scene
Exotic Wine Travel’s 16 Wines of 2016 (Georgian wine scored two spots out of 16!)
Tsitska-Tsolikouri Amber Wine from Imereti, Georgia
A Brief History of Wine from the Caucasus

The post Exploring the Different Expressions of Georgian Wine appeared first on Wine Travel.

For a listing of articles and videos on Georgian wine and other wines from the Caucasus region, check out our page Uncorking the Caucasus. To purchase the Kindle or paperback copy of the book Uncorking the Caucasus: Wines from Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia, please head to this Amazon product page.

Georgia, the Country of Ancient Winemaking

At the intersection between Eastern Europe and Western Asia lies an important key to the origins of wine: Georgia. It is a mountainous country that has survived many millennia of conflicts and somehow managed to hang on to its traditions including its love for wine.

In Georgia, wine production has been going on uninterrupted for 8,000 years. The qvevri is the symbol of Georgian winemaking. As early as in the Neolithic age, grape juice was fermented in buried qvevri. It is fascinating that thousands of years later, Georgia is still making wine in the same way as it did in the past. For that reason, drinking Georgian qvevri wine is similar to tasting the flavors of the ancient past. The Georgians who make wine in qvevri believe in the laissez-faire approach, where nothing is added and nothing is taken away. By putting the grapes into a qvevri and burying it underground, the winemaker allows nature to do most of the work.

 

What is Qvevri?

The qvevri (pronounce “kway-vree”) is an egg-shaped, beeswax-lined terracotta vessel used for making wine. The qvevri is filled with grapes, their skins and pips, and sometimes the stems too. Fermentation in the open qvevri relies on wild yeast. Geothermal regulation keeps the fermentation and wine at a constant, cool temperature. As the wine ferments, the qvevri’s conical shape promotes circulation and clarifies the wine naturally. After fermentation, the qvevri is sealed with a wooden lid and beeswax or clay. They are opened anywhere between a few months and a few years later for the wine to be transferred into another qvevri or bottles for further aging, or to be consumed immediately.

Outside of Gerogia, it is more common in the wine industry to use the term anfora or amphora (amphorae for plural) to refer to the clay vessel used for making wine. However, in Georgia, it is important to call a qvevri a qvevri as it is a symbol of their culture. In 2013, the UNESCO declared Georgia’s ancient tradition of making wine in qvevri as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Qvevri found outside the Pheasant’s Tears winery in Kakheti, Georgia. The size of qvevri can range from a few hundred to thousands of liters.

 

What is Orange Wine?

Let’s get this straight first: in Georgia, it is more common for people to refer to this style of wine as amber wine. We, too, prefer to use the term amber wine. However, outside of Georgia, people generally call it orange wine.

Nothing to do with the citrus fruit, orange wine is made from white wine grapes. While white wine is fermented from white grape juice with little to no skin contact, orange wine is fermented with the skins and seeds, and sometimes even with the stems. The color of a wine comes less from the flesh and juice than from the skin. For that reason, the skins of white grapes impart an amber hue to orange wine.

Besides imparting color, the seeds, skins, and stems provide tannins—a dry, grippy quality found in some red wines—to orange wine. When drinking orange wine, expect the slight astringency of a red wine and the crispness of a white. Just like all other wines, orange wines differ widely depending on the grape variety, terroir, and winemaking style. But as a general guide, they are medium- to full- bodied, with robust characteristics of nuts, tea, and dried fruit. By virtue of its bold flavors, medium to high acidity, low alcohol, and significant body, it can be paired perfectly with various dishes—from the spicy, to umami, and salty.

Today, orange wine is being made in all parts of the world including Australia, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Italy, Mexico, Slovenia, and the United States.

 

Introducing Georgian Qvevri Wine to Croatian Wine Lovers

After several months of promoting our book Uncorking the Caucasus in Georgia and Armenia, we finally left the region in November and made a brief detour to Macedonia to attend the inaugural Skopje Wine Salon (organized by our dear friend Ivana Simjanovska), before returning to Croatia. From Tbilisi the capital of Georgia, we brought along four bottles of Georgian qvevri wines that we were planning to share with a special group of wine lovers in Croatia. The group consisted of the top Vivino users in Croatia as well as Nenad Trifunović, an established wine blogger who runs the website vinopija.com (in Croatian).

While not new to amber wine (there are several Croatian winemakers who are making white wine with some skin contact), this was the first time that all eight Croatian wine lovers are tasting Georgian amber wine made in the qvevri. 

Our Selection of Georgian Qvevri Wines

The wines were served in an intentional sequence: from a few days of skin contact (something we expect everyone will enjoy) to deep amber, tannic wine that saw many months of skin contact (something that challenges conventional beliefs).

Nikoladzeebis Marani, Tsitska-Tsolikouri, 2015
Winemaker: Ramaz Nikoladze
Miscellaneous Notes: Ramaz Nikoladze is one of the big names in Georgia. He makes only around 3,000 bottles every year. His Tsolikouri was selected by Carla Capalbo as the Favourite Wine of 2015 at the Decanter’s 40th Anniversary celebration. For a mammoth-looking guy, his wines are surprisingly gentle.
Tasting Notes: Prominent but workable volatile acidity that flatters the aroma of dried flower and ripe apricot. A little volatile acidity really highlights the typical ripe or dried fruit flavor of amber wine; too much will obviously swamp the beauty. Gentle tannins and green tea-like astringency hit the mid-end palate. A delicate amber wine that makes a safe introduction for those who are new to this wonderful world of skin contact.

With winemaker Ramaz Nikoladze at Vino Underground in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Gotsa Family Wines, Chinuri, 2015
Winemaker: Beka Gotsadze
Miscellaneous Notes: Recently, Beka pioneered a heat treatment system to clean his qvevri and combat the big, bad brett—most commonly known as the “funky smell” in amber wine. He’s also one of the few winemakers in Georgia who is currently making pét-nat wines. The first vintage of his pét-nat was released in December 2016.
Tasting Notes: Allegedly one of the most popular wines to be served at the recent RAW WINE New York 2016. Tropical juiciness perked up by summer citrus brims the nose! What fun! The flavors are juicy, too, in the mouth and flawlessly moves into an imminent white-tea finish. A touch of gingery bitterness lingers. This is an amber wine that can be easily dismissed as simple and approachable, but start shifting attention to the structure and transition, let it aerate for awhile, and you can find many nuances to it.

Gotsa winery’s Beka Gotsadze opening a bottle of pét-nat that is still fermenting in the bottle. Do not try this at home. Seriously.

Lagvinari, Goruli Mtsvane, 2013
Winemaker: Dr Eko Glonti
Miscellaneous Notes: Cardiovascular surgeon-turned-geologist-turned-winemaker, Eko is arguably our favorite wine producer in Georgia. He started making wine five years ago with the encouragement of Isabelle Legeron MW (organizer of RAW WINE).
Tasting Notes: The smell of a Chinese celebration—goji berry, gooseberry, orange peel, fig, and an undefined red fruit underlying. The palate reflects the nose with complementary tannins that outline the ripe fruit notes.

The Lagvinari wine cellar is located in the basement of Dr Eko Glonti’s house in Tbilisi, Georgia. Here’s him selecting the treats for the evening.

Tsikhelishvili Wines, Rkatsiteli, 2013
Winemaker: Aleksi Tsikhelishvili
Miscellaneous Notes: No background information as we haven’t got the chance to visit the winery.
Tasting Notes: Raisin and prune on the nose. Sherry-like with pronounced volatile acidity. Almost hard to differentiate from a red wine if tasted blind. The front palate is gentle and the body is medium. When the wine sets in the mouth, draw some air in and you’ll notice the citrus and stone fruit flavors along with tannins hitting hard on the mid palate, defying the earlier assumption that it could be a light red. A powerful amber wine with black tea-like astringency and mouth-coating ripe fruit flavors.

We didn’t get the chance to visit the Tsikhelishvili’s winery yet, but this was the night when we fell in love with his wine. We were having dinner at Azarphesha restaurant in Tbilisi and our dear friend John Wurdeman picked out a bottle of Tsikhelishvili Rkatsiteli for us to try.

Georgian Qvevri Wine Against the Croatian Palate

Many of our Croatian friends commented on how “alive” and how much “energy” the Georgian qvevri wines possessed.

We continued the night with a blind tasting of six different varietal red wines made out of Teran, an indigenous variety from Istria, Croatia; the round-up will be shared in a future article. As for the qvevri wine tasting: surprisingly, it was the last bottle, Tsikhelishvili Wines Rkatsiteli 2013, that was crowned the favorite of the night. We said “surprisingly” because we had assumed that the wine would be the most difficult to understand—with its extreme oxidative style, black tea-like tannins, and dried fruit characteristics. As it turned out, most people appreciated that wine most because it reminded them of a red wine. Overall, everyone enjoyed at least two out of the four wines, except one person who drinks only reds. Many of our Croatian friends commented on how “alive” and how much “energy” the Georgian qvevri wines possessed. We were delighted with the way the wines showed overall.

One of our favorite things to do is introducing new wines to enthusiasts and experienced palates. It is always fun to share gems from the unheralded regions of the wine world with fellow wine lovers. Georgian qvevri wines are the most fun, yet challenging, to present to wine lovers. When these wines are done well, they give flavors and experiences that are unparalleled. At a time when words like “raw wine”, “natural wine”, and “wine with a sense of place” are gaining traction on the world stage, the Georgian wines are the perfect candidate to offer diversity and novelty that can’t be found anywhere else in the world.

You May Also Enjoy
The Unstoppable Progress in the Georgian Wine Scene
Saperavi: Georgia’s Flagship Red Wine Grape
A Brief History of Wines from the Caucasus
UNESCO: Ancient Georgian traditional Qvevri wine-making method

Special thanks to Bornstein Wine Bar and Shop for hosting us.
The ideas expressed in this article are personal opinions and are not associated with any sponsors or business promotions.

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