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Georgian Wine In Focus

 

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Quite some time ago (again, I drink faster than I can type) I received an exciting invitation to a wine masterclass in Istanbul: Georgian Wine in Focus. Organized by Sabiha Apaydın in coordination with the Georgian Wine Association, the masterclass introduced participants to some of the Georgian wines available in Turkey. 

Yes! Before you ignore this post because it talks about wine not available here, these wines are! Am I 100% sure where? Sadly, no. Because the shop that did have them, doesn’t seem to anymore. But, the usual suspects to check would be La Cave, Mensis Mahzen, maybe Gözde Tekel, it’s possible you might even see these at Macro Center. 

Georgian Wine in Focus

I was very excited to get the invitation from Sabiha. Not the least because anything she organizes is going to be great. If you don’t know her name, but like Turkish wine, you need to get to know her name. Sabiha Apaydın, founder of Kök Köken Toprak, Old Vine Türkiye Board Member, proponent of Turkey’s natural wine scene, advocate for Turkey’s native grapes, and all around bad ass wine personality here. 

Also, the masterclass was moderated by Robert Joseph. So yeah, I canceled things in order to attend. And oh my gosh he was so nice!

All the wines presented were made with native Georgian grapes. Georgia does produce a small amount of wine with international grapes, but they’ve leaned hard into their native varieties.

One of the very interesting take aways I learned was that, contrary to popular assumption, apparently only about 5% of Georgian wines are made in qvevri! And only about 4% of that is amber. Knock me over with a feather. Also:

• There are 55,000 hectares under vine in Georgia
• 1,200 – 1,800 estates
• White grapes account for 75% of plantings
• Rkatsiteli is by the far the most planted at 43%!!!
• Saperavi accounts for 33% of grapes

Ikalto Winery Kakhuri Mtsvane, 2022

Ikalto is a family-owned winery with 65 hectares across the villages of Ruispiri and Ikalto. The family works with native Georgian grapes  Rkatsiteli, Kakhuri Mtsvane, Kisi, and Saperavi. 

The Kakhuri Mtsvane grapes from hand-harvested vineyards in Tsinandali, Telavi which sit at between 500-550 meters above sea level. In the winery, Ikalto follows ‘standard’ white wine vinification for this wine, crushing the grapes and immediately separating the juice from the skins. No oak, no qvevri.

Fruity and floral with notes of field flowers, dried peach, and lime. Fleshy with good acidity. Really pretty.

Dakishvili Vineyards Kisi Qvevri, 2023

Dakishvili Vinyards is a small winery in the village Shalauri near Telavi in Eastern Georgia. The family has looked after grapes for almost 100 years! Working carefully with native Georgian grapes, they vinify wines specifically to release as ‘reserve’ wines in order to allow them to develop and mature before they hit the market. 

The winery makes a few versions of Kisi (including a pét-nat that I absolutely must find). This version fermented grapes in qvevri then aged the wine (also in qvevri) for six months before bottling. 

There was so much happening here. Big notes of tangerine skin, dried flowers, pale honey, apricot and spices. Fine-grained tannins, supportive acidity, and an earthy finish. Wow. 

Tchotiashvili Vineyards Mtsvane Qvevri, 2017

Let’s take a moment to marvel at the vintage!

Next up, another Mtsvane – but a world apart from the first.

As with many Georgian families, the Tchotiashvilis have made wine at home for generations. It wouldn’t be until 2013 though, when brothers  Kakha and Ucha created the commercial Tchotiashvili Vineyards winery. 

Their vineyards sit at 420-450 meters above the sea level in the western Georgian region Kakheti. Here they grow more than 40 grape varieties on 12 hectares including Rkatsiteli, Mtsvane, Kisi, Khikhvi, Chitistvala, Kakhuri Mtsvivani, Tavkveri, Saperavi, Budeshuri Saperavi, Muscat Rkatsiteli (Tbilisuri), Grdzelmtevana, and Mkhargrdzeli (as well as a couple international grapes). 

The Mtsvane Qvevri was vinified in qvevri before aging seven months in the clay vessels, then being bottled in the winery’s signature, more squat bottle. 

I’m not sure I’ve had an amber qvevri wine this aged before. And wow what a wine. Sun-warmed dried meadow grass, stone fruit and dried apricot, with a  squeeze of citrus. Lightly tannic with mouthwatering acidity and lingering fruit on the palate. Gorgeous. 

Chateau Mukhrani Shavkapito, 2020

Chateau Mukhrani was founded in 1878 in Kartli by Prince Ivane Mukhranbatoni. Quite the antecedent there! Fast-forward to 2002 when Château Mukhrani, as we know it today reimagined the historic Mukhranbatoni estate. 

The winery’s extensive 102 hectares of vineyards, situated in the village Mukhrani, not too far from Tbilisi, are farmed entirely organically. The vineyards sit on a plateau that extends from the Greater Caucasian range to the Lesser Caucasus, at an altitude between 540 to 620 meters. Here, the winery grows 14 different grape varieties, mostly native. These include: Goruli Mtsvane, Shavkapito, Tavkveri, Chinuri, Rkatsiteli, Saperavi, and Ojaleshi.

Of those, Shavkapito isn’t one of the Georgian grapes many people know. Even in Georgia it’s rarely used with only about 15 wineries working with it. Chateau Mukhrani made this, 100% Shavkapito, partially aged in oak for (I think he said) 18 months. 

Big red fruits with cherry, even dried cherry, and warm spices. Medium plus on the body with bight acidity, juicy tannins, and linger fruit on the finish. Lovely. 

K’AVSHIRI Red

K’AVSHIRI means “‘coming together’: in this case, bringing together grape varieties, vineyards, winemaking methods and vintages in a single bottle of wine.”

The K’AVSHIRI project was spearheaded by our moderated, lauded wine writer/critic Robert Joseph and talented winemaker, Vladimer Kublashvili. It began in 2018 when the pair, who had met years before, set out to see what kind of wine they could make when unconstrained by any conventional rules or regulations. They explored multiple winemaking methods, creating novel grape blends, and co-fermenting, among other things! They now make a white, rosé, and red wine.

It was the red K’AVSHIRI Joseph presented at Georgian Wine in Focus. Fascinated by the Rhonish practice of co-fermenting Syrah and Viognier, they wondered what would happen if they used the same method on the often rustic Saperavi. They experimented with several white grapes: Kisi, Krakhuna, Rkatsiteli, and Mtsvane, ultimately finding Mtsvane offered the best partnership. In the end, the wine was not just Saperavi and Mtsvane though. While the Saperavi co-ferments with two white grapes, the wine is a blend. It brings together an additional six grapes, including a small percentage of the rare Aladasturi that were dried for 10 days before fermentation.

I don’t know all the grapes or methods that went into this, but Joseph and Kublashvili definitely managed to create a wine that both showcases Saperavi while taming it. Tart red-black fruits liberally sprinkled with spices, and notes of forest. Big, round tannins melted into the palate, leaving behind smooth chocolate on the finish.

Some people love novels, movies, and musicians nobody else has heard of. They holiday in unpronounceable places, seek out particular cheeses, coffee, and olive oil, and wear clothes that express themselves rather than any fashionable trend. They’re the people for whom we make K’AVSHIRI. They’re aren’t very many of them. But we don’t make much K’AVSHIRI.

GWS Tamada Saperavi Reserve, 2017

GWS or the Georgian Wine & Spirits Company, is located in Telavi. It’s had a history almost as turbulent as modern Georgia’s! But since the early 1990s, with the help of investors, the Achinebuli Winery transformed into GWS, ultimately ending up in the hands of Pernod Ricard. Today, GWS is one of the largest wineries in Georgia with 400 hectares and producing 3.5 million bottles annually. 

With that large of production, can any of it be good? Based in the Tamada Saperavi Reserve…yes!

A 100% Saperavi, the wine aged for 14 months in oak barrels (45% new). The additional years aging in bottle allowed the wine to develop further, softening Saperavi’s often harsh tannins and rounding out the flavor profile. Big and deep nose full of black fruits wrapped around with gun smoke with notes of pencil, stone, earth, black pepper, and sweet spices. Velvety with ripe tannins and flavors of fresh red plum, berry fruits, spice, and licorice. 

Wow. 

CGW Akido Carbonic Saperavi

Corporation Georgian Wine, or CGW, was founded in Telavi in 1999. Located in the culturally famous village Tsinandali, CGW works with native grapes such as Kisi, Khikhvi, Rkatsiteli, and Saperavi. 

Before this, I’d never heard of someone making Saperavi with this method. The carbonic maceration lent the wine a delightful freshness that can often be missing from this grape. The wine was all sorts of juicy goodness, bursting with ripe black raspberry and cherry with notes of spice and gun powder. Fresh and structured, but not overwhelming tannic. 

A walk around tasting with more wines from these producers followed the event. While I did not take copious notes during the walk around, I did fall in love with the Drunk Zodiacs series! Sadly, they didn’t have my sign with them, which I would have LOVED to taste because it’s a grape that fascinates me. I’ll just have to get myself to Georgia sooner rather than later to try it!

This was such a fantastic event. Thank you to Sabiha and the Georgian Wine Association for putting this together. 

While most closely associated with Georgia, check out Turkey’s take on Saperavi and amphora-aged wines!