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!

Gut Oggau Winery (Neusiedlersee, Burgenland, Austria)

Established in 2007, Gut Oggau is a 13-hectares estate located in Austria’s Burgenland wine region. Husband and wife Eduard Tscheppe and Stephanie Tscheppe-Eselböck are farming according to biodynamic principles in the Demeter-certified estate vineyards.  The annual production is around 18,000 bottles.

Photo from Gut Oggau’s website.

Together with German artist Jung von Matt, they’ve created a family of fictional characters for the bottle labels. By using anthropomorphism, each character represents a different expression of the wine’s style and vineyard age. The children represent younger wines that are easy to drink. The parents represent wines with bolder flavors, and the grandparents represent wines from the oldest vineyards. The artist redraws the labels for every new vintage, adding ‘a year of age’ to the characters that the wines are named after.

Each wine is made from grapes harvested from a single plot. Most of the plots contain field blends, and the primary grapes are Blaufränkisch, Gewürztraminer, Grüner Veltliner, Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), Welchriesling, and Zweigelt. The fruit is vinified with a minimal-intervention approach in the winery.

Photo credit: Thomas Leitner

The Gut Oggau Brutal Rosé is made from a grape called Roesler. When it was first poured into the glass, we noticed the light ruby color, which looked more like a light red wine than a rosé. 

Roesler, the Austrian Hybrid Grape

Named after Leonhard Roesler, the former director of Austria’s oldest viticultural college, Roesler is an Austrian hybrid with around 140 hectares (relatively little amount) planted in the country. Registered as a quality grape in the year 2000,  it was developed in 1970 by crossing Zweigelt and another hybrid called Klosterneuburg 1189-9-77 (with Blaufränkisch parentage). Roesler is categorized as a PIWI (Pilzwiderstandsfähigen Reben), which means it is resistant to fungal disease. It is also resistant to winter frost, making it an ideal grape that thrives in Austria’s harsh continental winter.

Commonly used as a blending grape for red wine, Roesler imparts deep color, rich extract, good structure, and moderate tannins to a wine.

Gut Oggau Brutal Rosé 2016

Ah! Now it makes sense: the Gut Oggau Brutal Rosé has an unusually intense color due to the grape.

With a sniff and a sip, on the first impression, this wine is redolent of the Georgian ancient grape Chitistvala.

Notes of wild strawberry, raspberry, and cranberry are accompanied by characteristics of hay, flint, and white pepper. The flavor attack in the mouth is bright and intense with a mid-palate spike. Juicy acidity leads the wine into a notably long finish with persistent spiciness and a gentle tug from the tannins. What’s particularly memorable about this rosé is how silky smooth and light it is on the palate and how it harmoniously transforms into a powerful finish.

To simplify its merits: it’s like an imaginary blend of Pinot Noir, Grenache, and Etna Rosso.

This is arguably the most exciting rosé we’ve tasted in 2017.

4.4/5  (You can find out more about our scoring system on the START HERE page.)

Technical notes: Vines are planted in limestone soil. A few hours of maceration. Spontaneous fermentation in 500-liter barrels. Eight-month aging in 500-liter barrels. Bottled without additional sulfur.

Find or buy Gut Oggau wine on Wine Searcher.

PS: Thanks a lot to our friend Thomas Leitner for introducing us to this wine.

The opinions expressed in this article are unsolicited and have not been paid for in any way. We do not sell editorial content as that would destroy the legitimacy of our reviews and the trust between Exotic Wine Travel and its readers.

The post Gut Oggau Brutal Rosé 2016 appeared first on Wine Travel.

Hello, thirsty readers. It’s the time of the year again. Round-up, conclusion, evaluation, assessment, goal setting… what a load that only wine can make it lighter and better! Let’s make WINE great again.

We’ve been traveling full-time for wine for nearly two years now, but 2016 is particularly significant because it marks our first official year in the wine industry. In 2016, we visited the wine regions of Armenia, Baja California (Mexico), Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Santa Barbara County (California, USA), Serbia, and Virginia (USA). With all the travel, work, dinner parties, and self-study, this year we’ve tasted around 3,000 wines in total. That’s a lot to recall for two ethanol-soaked brains.

But what has to be done has to be done: the veritable internet-breaking listicle. This year, in addition to the hundreds of excellent exotic wines, we’ve also managed to cross out a few bucket-list wines from the illustrious part of the wine world. As advocates for diversity in wine and the lesser-known wine regions, we hope our list reveals the ever-expanding variety available to consumers today. With wines from eight countries and across different styles—from the classic Old World red to the defiant amber wine—this list is nowhere close to being comprehensive but yet should appease every palate: from the refined to the adventurous.

Ultimately, this is our way of paying homage to the wines we enjoy drinking the most this year. The choices are not affected by the speculation of ageabilitiy, the reality of price, or the limiting availability. The choices are also subjective; there’s no Dawkin-esque, rational notion of truth or big-data mathematics here. Most importantly, the wines are chosen for their sensory merits. In some cases, the stories matter as well.  However, the common denominator they all share is the unique memory each wine evokes. Every wine on this list is a time machine in which we can be transported back and recall the experience of the wine and the people whom we shared the bottle with.

Exotic Wine Travel’s Best Wines of 2016

Here are our top 16 wines of 2016. The wines are listed in chronological order based on when we tasted them, starting with the beginning of 2016. We’ve deliberately left out the scores, rankings, and detailed tasting notes in order to focus on the underlying enjoyment of wine.

THE CLASSIC

• Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, Hermitage, 2002 (Rhone, France)

One of the finest wines we’ve ever tasted. We drank this at a Michelin-starred French restaurant in Singapore called Odette. It was Charine’s birthday gift from our dear friend, also called Matt. We were a party of four and all of us spent a significant amount of time just smelling this wine.

To Matt, it is Syrah at its finest. To Charine and her food-motivated brain, it is herbal chicken & mushroom soup in a bottle.

This family-owned domaine is one of the finest and oldest estates on the Hermitage hill in Northern Rhône. The first generation of vine growers in the family can be traced back to sometime around 1480. In the movie Somm: Into The Bottle, Jean-Louis Chave was the cool guy who opened a bottle of 1969 Ermitage, which was made by his grandfather.

If you are a Syrah lover, put this on your list of wine goals now!

 “When it comes to Hermitage, there is one name that most aficionados utter with a sense of reverence: Chave.” –  Jeb Dunnuck

 

• Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Échézeaux, 1997 (Cote de Nuits, France)

It was Charine’s homecoming in Singapore where she was treated to a special bottle from her wine collector-friend’s stash: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, typically abbreviated to DRC, is the holy grail of Burgundy reds. In 1988, DRC switched to organic farming in the vineyards. With the 2008 vintage and onwards, the wines are fully biodynamic.

The bottle was left to decant as the night continued with many well-aged French wines. After many hours of aeration, the DRC shed its shy countenance and developed into a full-fledged powerhouse. The consensus favorite of the night was this wine, with a Margaux 1982 (below) coming in a close second.

Charine calls this “the life-ruining wine” because one can never look at Pinot Noir with the same lens again after tasting this.

“Not all pinot noirs are constructed to express their terroirs, and, indeed, not all terroirs have anything of interest to say.” – Eric Asimov

• Chateau Margaux, 1982 (Bordeaux, France)

As mentioned, this was tasted next to the DRC Échézeaux 1997. This appeared to be more intense and present than the DRC at first, with its smokey edge on the nose and ever-evolving flavors. Charine spent more time smelling this wine than drinking it; not that it didn’t taste good but the aroma was telling the story of Margaux’s long pedigree.

If decadence has a smell, then this is it.

• Domaine Dujac, Chambolle-Musigny, 2004 (Cote de Nuits, France)

This wine arrived a tad late in the night for a full, honest appreciation. Nevertheless, it was tasted side by side with a Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue Chambolle-Musigny 1999 and the Dujac was the one that shook Charine out of her stupor. Succumbing to further indulgence and collective enthusiasm, an order for tuna belly sashimi was put forth.

Fat always has a way around wine—either it brings out a certain elusive trait in a wine or in this case, it harmonizes the interplay between feisty and funky.

• Chateau d’Yquem, 1986 (Sauternes, France)

Neither of us is partial to sweet wine but this is Charine’s favorite wine of all time. Liquid gold in a bottle! To her, this is chocolate & coffee, bacon & cabbage, potato & onion, and perfection of all forms. It seems fitting to dedicate this wine to a pair or sort that seems to partake in a higher order of compatibility. We reckon it’s the same deal as saying you’d never date that neighbor of yours based on what you assume to be typically “your kind”, or not. And then one day you realize that this neighbor is as magical as the work of Picasso in your bedroom or Big Green Egg in your lawn.

CULT WINES FROM SERBIA, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, AND CROATIA

•  Matalj, Kremen Kamen, 2011 (Negotin, Serbia)

This is through and through a cult wine and the most difficult wine to get in Serbia’s frenzied domestic market. The winery is located in the isolated far east of the country. The production of this cru wine is 5,000 bottles in good years. It is a blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with a touch of Merlot.

We drove all the way out to meet this producer, and as it turned out, he didn’t have a single bottled wine left in the cellar. Now, that is real demand and popularity. The owner and winemaker, Nikola Mladenovic Matalj, was very kind to let us taste samples of the new vintages from the tanks and barrels. Afterward, he took us to a local restaurant where he bought back his own wines so that we could try them. Unfortunately, the restaurant too had run out of this magnum opus. A few days later when we arrived in Belgrade (the capital city of Serbia), our friend Zoran met us with a bottle of this beast in hand. He had serendipitously found a bottle of Matalj Kremen Kamen 2011 as it was left forgotten on the top shelf of a wine bar. The latest vintage of this wine available on the market was 2012 at that time. So we really did score big time with this bottle.

This wine has a tireless end palate. An evocative combination of strength, elegance, and playfulness. Our friend Daniel Curovic, who is importing Croatian wine to Sweden, puts it well, “I tasted the Kremen Kamen, and it might be the finest wine coming out of the entire Balkan area.”

We would confidently bring this wine to serious Napa Cab or Bordeaux drinkers and have them taste it blind.

Read – Matalj Kremen Kamen: A Vertical Tasting

• Brkić, Mjesećar, Žilavka, 2013 (Western Herzegovina, Bosnia-Herzegovina)

We visited this boutique producer and were lucky that time was on our side. He makes only one barrel of this wine in good years.

This wine is so unusual and refreshing. It starts out tasting like an archetypal amber wine with flavors of nuts, dried apricot, and dried peach. Then, the oxidative style completely vanishes and the wine becomes perfectly crisp. The acidity is pronounced and shows up buoyantly with citrus flavors. A sensory experience that is ready to dazzle any bored palate.

Read – Brkić Plava Greda 2015 and Brkić Limousine 2007

This wine by Brkić is called Mjesečar, which means “moonwalker”. Made from an indigenous grape called Žilavka, it is a biodynanamic wine that was fermented, aged sur lie, and left for 9 months on the skins in Bosnian oak barrel. No added sulfite and bottled without filtration. The label design aptly represents how this wine is made–in accordance to the lunar calendar.

A video posted by Exotic Wine Travel (@exoticwinetravel) on May 25, 2016 at 5:50pm PDT

“Mjeseċąr feels pure and fresh to the end.” – Simon Woolf

• Clai, Ottocento Crni, 2013 (Istria, Croatia)

This is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Teran, and Refošk. We first heard about this producer on Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV. The proprietor Giorgio Clai is considered by many to be “the godfather of Istria”. We visited the winery with our wine-loving Croatian friend; when he drank this wine for the first time, he said, “Fucking Clai, I don’t want to spend so much money on wine. But this is so good, I want it all the time.”

We’ve drunk three more bottles of this wine since our winery visit, and each new bottle managed to emerge like a victorious new variety clone—always enchanting and surprising. And somewhat always better than the previous bottle; that’s a huge feat.

Read – Cracking Croatian Wine: A Visitor-Friendly Guide

• Jonata, Fenix, 2007 (Santa Barbara, California USA)

Jonata shares ownership with its cooler, fancier cousin: Screaming Eagle of Napa. We got to taste this wine during our “Sideways” Santa Barbara pilgrimage at a hip wine bar downtown called Santa Barbara Wine Collective.

A blend of 88% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot; this was dense, ripe, and incredibly structured. Charine, being a scornful taster towards most big and ripe wine, was utterly confused by the wholeness of this. She kept sniffing and drinking, yet could find no fault or unhappiness in this wine. In the end, she decided to divorce her critical side and proclaim this wine as one of her favorites of all time.

Read – Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail: Highlights & Tips

• Brewer-Clifton, Acin, 2013 (Santa Barbara, California USA)

The trip through Santa Barbara Wine Country was a fulfilling one, both for the mind and palate. Matt was checking off all the places that appeared in Sideways in the most loyal fanboy manner. All of the wineries were so impressive that it took painful concentration to mark the wines. That said, the tasting at Brewer-Clifton was the top wine experience in Santa Barbara County for both of us. All 10 wines that we got to taste were spectacular. We could understand why Antonio Galloni was impressed.

This Chardonnay stands out the most because it’s oily and tastes gently oxidative. An immediate, boundary-pushing attitude is erected. It is whole-cluster pressed and aged in neutral barrels for 12 to 18 months. Somewhat a cross between a Mâconnais—with starfruit and ripe melon and gentler oak influence—and a breed of its own unique kind, this is a deviant with a wacky vision.

The partnership between Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton started more than 20 years ago when they pioneered single-vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines in Santa Rita Hills. The duo split up in 2015 and Steve Clifton now owns a different winery while Greg Brewer continues to take the helm at Brewer-Clifton.

Read – Brewer-Clifton: Combining Expertise, Gravitas, and Nature

• Chateau Camou, El Gran Vino Tinto, 1997 (Baja, Mexico)

Chatea Camou was one of the first in Baja Mexico to kickstart the boutique, high-quality wine movement.

This is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc grapes harvested from the desert part of Baja; but don’t let that fool you, there is a lot of wine being made there.

1997 is widely considered to be a stellar vintage in Mexico. We tasted a number of stunning wines from that vintage and this one came out on top—narrowly above a Cavas Valmar’s Cabernet Sauvignon. This was the first of many outstanding Mexican wines we tasted during our two and half month stay in Mexico’s most prominent wine region. For this particular wine and vintage, it was made by Dr Victor Torres-Alegre, who received his doctorate in enology from the University of Bordeaux, and with the assistance of Michel Rolland. Both Dr Torres-Alegre and Michel Rolland have moved on from Chateau Camou.

GOING BACK TO THE CAUCASUS

• Okro’s Wine, Rkatsiteli, 2010 (Kakheti, Georgia)

We tasted this on a press trip through Georgia with journalists from all over Europe. This wine was aged for three years in the qvevri (buried terracotta vessels). Just as we were about to sample this wine, a huge storm rolled in and knocked out the electricity. The wine was eventually drunk under the candlelight and everybody in the press group was awestruck by this sensory treat. Incredibly clean, full of earthy notes, and firmly structured. A wine so outspoken and so distant from its other well-mannered, generic cousins.

Shout-out to our dear friend John Wurdeman from Pheasant’s Tears for introducing us to this life-defining wine!

Read – Uncorking the Caucasus: Wines from Turkey, Armenia, and Georgia

• Lagvinari, Goruli Mtsvane, 2015 (Kartli, 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.

Eko Glonti, the owner and winemaker at Lagvinari, is a heart surgeon, turned geologist, turned winemaker. The first time we drank this wine, we were at his home with classical jazz music playing in the background. The second time we drank this was with a group consisting of an Australian winemaker, a sommelier, and a Master of Wine. After the first sip, the Australian winemaker said, “This is fucking sexy.”

This is a qvevri amber wine with high-toned aromas of peach, lime, apricot, wildflower, pine, and nut. On the palate, the weighty body is reminiscent of a light red wine.

Hunting down a Goruli Mtsvane wine can be challenging but also incredibly rewarding.

Read – 2015 Lagvinari Wine from Georgia

• Zorah, Yeraz 2013 (Vayots Dzor, Armenia)

We drank this wine from a cask sample at the beautiful Zorah cellar. The winery is situated in a vast, open space 1,200 meters in altitude and may be the most beautiful wine estate we have ever seen. Zorah is famous for its flagship wine, the Zorah Karasi. The Yeraz is their cru wine, named after the owner’s wife. The word Yeraz also means “hope/dream” in Armenian.

This wine is made from the indigenous variety called Areni, with grapes harvested from ultra-centennial bush vines that are planted at 1,600 meters above sea level. It is fermented with natural yeast and partially aged in amphora. The vines of Areni are ungrafted as they’ve never been affected by phylloxera. By dint of the location and elevation, vineyard management is relatively natural with minimal intervention. The Zorah Yeraz 2013 brings a whole new canon of exquisiteness that demands a quiet mind to understand. Reticent at first and requires some coaxing, it is ethereally gentle—like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you might miss with a blink. This is a wine that can challenge many Burgundy Grand Crus.

If you’ve tasted the Zorah Yeraz 2012: the 2013 is a celestial kin to its first-born sibling; at least that’s how they are showing right now.

Read – Zorah Wines: Depicting Armenia’s Ancient Wisdom

A trip of any kind in Armenia is never complete without a taste of Zorah wine. Here’s a quick capture of Zorah winery, inside and out. For more detailed notes on Zorah and Armenian wines, check out our book; link in bio. #UncorkingTheCaucasus

A video posted by Exotic Wine Travel (@exoticwinetravel) on Oct 11, 2016 at 10:16am PDT

“Yeraz has a lovely ethereal nose and fine, elegant, pure lingering flavour, it’s like a blend of cru Burgundy mixed with top Sangiovese in character but with its own distinctive hints of spice and crushed raspberry.” – Caroline Gilby

FINISHING 2016 IN CROATIA

• Roxanich, Antica, 2009 (Istria, Croatia)

Made with organic Istrian Malvasia grapes that went through spontaneous fermentation, 60-day maceration, 3-year aging in big oak cask, and another year or so in the bottle, this is the brainchild of a bonafide natural winemaker. This is an unfiltered, amber Malvazija (the Croatian name for Malvasia) wine that we got to enjoy while doing a podcast with our Croatian wine importer friend Daniel (mentioned above). We flipped our lid drinking this.

This is an amber wine that can handhold many conventional wine drinkers to the orange side. Imagine an amber wine so expectedly jam-packed with flavors of cinnamon, sliced almond, dried apricot, dried fig, forest floor, and a touch of savory spice. And then it hits the palate with welcoming juiciness and stern acidity. Balance, intensity, length, and complexity are all checked. The tannins are noticeable yet discreet as it goes shoulder-to-shoulder with the dominant notes of clementine orange and ginger powder, backed by still alive yet subtle secondary, toasty flavor. This is currently holding a spot on our “top 10 amber wine” list.

Read – 15 Amber Wines (Orange Wines) to Try in Croatia

• Tomac, Amphora Pjenušac Brut, 2010 (Plešivica, Croatia)

A winery located just outside the capital city of Zagreb, Tomac is the de facto name for sparkling wine in Croatia. Allegedly, Tomac is the world’s first producer to make a méthode traditionelle sparkling wine with amphora. His first vintage of amphora sparkling wine was in the 2000s. Today, the influence of Tomac and the beauty of amphora sparkling have spread all over Champagne as several renowned grower Champagne houses begin to take inspiration from him.

Right on the same day when the latest issue of Decanter magazine was released and in which this wine was listed under “75 Stellar Buys of 2016”, we visited Tomac and he took us through all of his wines. Decanter magazine describes this wine as a bit rustic, with strong and almost burnt caramel and orange aromas and nuances of autumn fruits with vivid acidity. We agree and also notice some notes of lemon rind, brioche, pleasantly oxidative tone, and a drying finish. It is only lightly effervescent but has a wonderfully tiny bubble structure.

Read – Tomac Winery: Leading the Charge in Croatia

Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are unsolicited and have not been paid for in any way by governmental bodies, enterprises, or individuals. We do not sell editorial content as that would destroy the legitimacy of our reviews and the trust between Exotic Wine Travel and its readers. On occasion, we extend the option of purchasing the wines we review or/and the products we spotlight. Some of these product links are set up through affiliate programs, which means Exotic Wine Travel gets referral credits if you choose to purchase these items via the links we provide.

The post Exotic Wine Travel’s 16 Wines of 2016 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.

We were strolling in the cool, rainy fall night in downtown Tbilisi. After exiting the metro and walking past Liberty Square, we turned the corner down an old street. In the middle of the unlit street, there was a door and a standing blackboard. Those two items didn’t fit in with the environment but signaled the entrance to a non-smoking (rare in Georgia) basement restaurant.

We had an appointment with John Wurdeman, owner of the restaurant Azarphesha and the winery Pheasant’s Tears. It started out as one of those nights we have seen so often in the last year–the winemakers sit down and share their stories; we drink some of their wines; and new relationships between people, places, and wines are formed. This night was orchestrated slightly differently–perhaps with a poetic and philosophical slant–by dint of John’s innate qualities; he’s a charming storyteller and a prolific artist of many forms.

The night commenced with just John and us. Over the course of the evening, John’s business partner came, then the wife of the business partner, and then one of John’s friends. The restaurant started to fill up and John and his gang began to perform the famed Georgian polyphonic singing. Next, the guitar came out, then more wine, and then the drinking horns.

Called “Kantsi” in Georgian,  the drinking horn is a vessel typically made from an animal horn. Once it is filled, one cannot put it down until the content is emptied–preferably done in one continuous series of gulps. When done drinking, the holder turns the horn upside down and proves to everyone that the content has been emptied out. 

By the end of the night, eight hours of delicious natural wines and memorable Georgian dishes were in the books. What was fascinating was that we didn’t drink solely wines by Pheasant’s Tears; John chose to showcase natural wines by several different producers whom he believed are doing great things in Georgia. We even ended the night with a wonderful bottle from an Italian wine producer.

Natural wines generally have no middle ground; people usually love or hate them.

While we may be partial to amber and natural wines, we believe that several of these wines do have the ability to win conventional wine drinkers over to the natural camp. In this context, when we use the term “natural wines”, we are referring to wines that are chemical-free and unfiltered, with little to no sulfites added. Here’s a recap of the wines from that night, along with tasting notes (of course).

• Kidev erti Tavkveri Pét Nat NV

Tavkveri is a red wine variety from eastern Georgia, native to Kartli but also grown in Kakheti. It is a high-yielding variety and can be made into dry red, dry Rosé, sparkling, and sweet wines. Currently, it isn’t a widely used variety for wine production, even though it shows a lot of potential to deliver many types of crowd-pleasing wine.

This is a pétillant naturel which means that the wine is bottled before the first fermentation of the wine is finished. The fermentation finishes in the bottle which gives off the bubbles. This is a technique embraced by many natural wine producers. This wine is made by a Frenchman living in Georgia. It is light and has persistent bubbles that create a frizzante sensation in the mouth. It is clear and pink in color. There are subtle strawberry and cream soda flavors, which have us craving for more intensity from this wine.

• Makaridze Winery Tsitska 2015

Tsitska is a grape variety grown in west Georgia and a variety that we have become very fond of. This traditional qvevri wine is incredibly light, crisp, and delicious. The flavors are dominated by characteristics of peach, pear, melon, and lemon. This wine has obviously received skin contact because of the nice, soft tannins but people might not think it is a qvevri wine because of the lack of nuttiness. A refreshing wine that kickstarts a celebratory evening on the perfect note.

• Archil Natsvlishvili Rkatsiteli 2015 

Rkatsiteli is the most ubiquitous white wine variety in Georgia; almost half of the white wine grapes grown in Georgia are Rkatsiteli. It is a hardy variety that is resistant to cold weathers and maintains high acidity and high sugar as it ripens. This variety can be made into dry, semi-sweet, and fortified wines and brandy. Rkatsiteli is relatively quiet in aroma and as such, is often blended with Mtsvane Kakhuri to create a more expressive nose. Such blends of Rkatsiteli-Mtsvane Kakhuri are found in PDOs like Gurjaani, Tsinandali, and Vazisubani.

John is usually a strong proponent of this wine but is disappointed with how it’s showing this particular evening. The first aroma that pops out of this amber wine is peeled banana. Flavors of pineapple, peach, and apricot show up afterward and the grippy tannins make this a perfect companion to food. Wonderful and well-made, with not even a trace of muskiness–a common characteristic found in many natural wines–but not the most striking bottle.

• Tsikhelishvili Wines Rkatsiteli 2013

Made by a winemaker who owns two-hectare of vineyards and uses the grapes to produce only this wine and a Mtsvane. This is the star of the night for both of us, Charine and Matthew. It is an amber wine made in Kakhetian qvevri method–a method that is touted to create the fullest, most powerful and most expressive wine in Georgia. Golden in color; on the nose, it has aromas of cherry, strawberry, cilantro, and a touch of straw. On the palate, it shows up immediately with a pronounced yet gentle weight, held together by a directive structure. A wine that shows the typical flavors of a well-made amber wine with characteristics of honey and green tea, yet it drinks like a fresh red wine with its red fruit and dark floral notes and astringent tannins.

• Pheasant’s Tears Rkatsiteli 2015

A bright color, clean, and fresh qvevri wine. The explosive flavors are reminiscent of pineapple, lemon, and apricot, executed with a gentle weight on the palate. Despite the skin contact, there is no nuttiness present but the tannins may be considered strong by a lot of people. A bodacious wine that does very well with food.

• Pheasant’s Tears Rosé Rkatsiteli 2015

Made with a rare clone of Rkatsiteli in traditional qvevri style; Rkatsiteli is typically used to make white or amber wine, but this clone departs an alluring bright ruby red pigmentation to this rosé wine. The wine is light on the palate and shows flavors of  strawberry, apricot, and nuts, powered by a subtle but distinct grip. This is the first vintage of a Rosé Rkatsiteli made by Pheasant’s Tears and is a very solid offering. 

• Dario Prinčič Pinot Grigio 2011

We end the night with this wine and it takes about 20 minutes to open up and fully expresses itself. It starts off shy with a pronounced musky aroma. The extended skin contact shows in the color–a light pink hue that can fool people into thinking that it might be a rosé wine. This wine has wonderful flavors of strawberry, pineapple, apricot, nuts, with a hint of rubber and petrol, held together by a tannic spine. Charine doesn’t appreciate this wine while Matt finds it tremendous and ties it with the Tsikhelishvili Rkatsiteli as the wine of the evening.

You May Also Enjoy
The Unstoppable Progress in the Georgian Wine Scene
An Introduction to Georgian Qvevri Wine in Zagreb
Trendsetter: Dr Eko Glonti from Lagvinari Winery, Georgia
A Brief History of Wines from the Caucasus

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

The post A Night of Natural Wines in Tbilisi, Georgia appeared first on Wine Travel.