Wine Thieves Saperavi 2015
A negociant wine company started by friends Avto Kobakhidze, Givi Apakidze, and Zaza Asatiani, Wine Thieves claims to be “The finest quality Georgian wine ‘stolen’ exclusively for you”. Of course not actually stolen, the trio purchase wine from small, family winemaker and market it under their own label. Beyond selling quality wine to the thirst fans, their goal is to help these small family wineries market and sell wine on their own.
The families they work with all grow grapes organically and age their wine in the traditional qvevri (large clay amphora). Contracts with the individual families never last long so in a way all of Wine Thieves’ wines are limited editions. If you come across a wine you really like, snap up as many bottles as you can right away!
I discovered Wine Thieves a couple years ago at the New Wine Festival in Tbilisi. A fitting place for the discovery as Kobakhidze and Apakidze are co-founders of the Georgian Wine Club which puts on this festival every year. I really recommend checking out their
website (and of course the wines!). It’s packed with articles about wine, history, Georgian food and wine pairings, and some really killer infographics.
Wine Thieves Saperavi 2015 Tasting Notes
I love both Georgian wine and amphora-aged wine. Don’t get me wrong. However, many of the Georgian wines I’ve had previously have a bit of rough quality. I suspect a great deal of that is due to the largely unfiltered nature of many of these wines. Yet in the case of the Wine Thieves Saperavi, “rough” is the last word I would use.
Big, juicy red fruits mingled with thyme and black pepper in the nose. Medium-bodied with 13% abv. Structured tannins with fruity flavors underscored by black peppercorn. Far more elegant than I expected. Really a lovely wine.
If I make it back to Georgia soon their wine will definitely be on my shopping list!