Telavi Marani Tvishi
This Telavi Wine Cellar Marani Tvishi was another great find at Rind. And worth every penny of the 70ish TL that I paid. Telavi Wine Cellar’s wine are the most available Georgian wines available in Istanbul. Except right now. As I write this I am impatiently waiting for Rind’s order to arrive. The order they put in over a month ago.
But back to the Marani Tvishi!
Telavi Wine Cellar
Under the Telavi Wine Cellar company, Marani is one of the largest wineries in Georgia. It’s also one of the most helpful websites. Not only does it list all the Marani wines being produced but provides tasting notes. Which, coming from Turkey where there are laws against that (which seem to be followed only sometimes?) is really refreshing.
One of the things I find interesting about Georgian wine is their labeling. Old World wines are labeled by appellation; New World by grape type. Georgia seems to use a mix of the two. The Marani Tvishi falls under the Old World labeling example. Tvishi is not a grape but a Specific Viticulture Area (SVA). Specifically one located in Racha-Lechkhumi, Svaneti. The Marani Tvishi which is in fact made from 100% Tsolikauri, is part of the winery’s Appellation Range. It differs greatly from the Marani Tsolikauri that is part of the Regional Range.
It’s enough to make your head spin! Marani’s website lists 55 wines; including two icewines, four chachas, and five brandies. The next time I do more than just run over to Tbilisi for a weekend I am making an appointment with Marani and tasting everything.
Telavi Marani Tvishi 2013 Tasting Notes
Probably not all that much of a spoiler but I really liked this one. I am kind of a sucker for semi-sweet wines. I actually didn’t know when I opened this that it was a semi-sweet. Because it was though it was an accidentally excellent pairing with the Thai green curry dish E and I drank it with!
One of the things I love so much about semi-sweet whites is how refreshing they are. They’re not the cloying, saccharine dessert wines many assume them to be. They’re lightly sweet and usually low in alcohol (11% in this case) making them excellent quaffing wines. The Marani Tvishi was no different!
A brilliant pale yellow with green highlights in the glass, the Marani Tvishi is beautiful from the off. The nose is slightly sweet with tropical, apricot, and honeysuckle notes. In the mouth it’s light with lively and zesty acid and flavors of quince, apricot, and honeysuckle.
A truly enjoyable wine. The Marani Tvishi has, if you’ll forgive the paraphrase, ‘wet’ my appetite for more wines by Marani!