Blog

Following Memory Lane Back to Georgia

 

---

Georgia is a perennial favorite destination of mine. I like to go at least once every other year or so. Past trips have been to visit wine regions like Kakheti; once to see the Pope and meet the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church; another time for a wine festival. My last trip was a whirlwind three and a half days in Tbilisi for an eating and drinking extravaganza.

When I’m in Tbilisi I’m generally pretty lazy about where I go. I already have a handful of favored restaurants and wine bars (Vino Underground, g.Vino, Pastorali, Azarphesha to name a few) so I mostly stick to those places. Of course a trip to Tbilisi is not complete without visiting some of the iconic and oh so Instagrammable places like the sulfur baths and the puppet theater’s leaning clock tower; or without the shopping. I particularly love the textiles that can be found in Tbilisi. They do some amazing embroidery, felt work, and painted silks.

Whatever side activities I do to occupy my time until it’s socially acceptable to start drinking wine (i.e. as soon as the bars open); the main purpose behind my trips to Georgia is always the wine. Well and the food. Georgian food is a little bit like Chinese food. You think you know what it is and you like it but then you go to the actual country and it’s a whole new level of flavor.

Tbilvino Sachino, 2015

Tbilvino, established in 1962, has grown into a leading producer of Georgian wines with a 6.5 million bottle portfolio. The company operates two wineries; one in Tbilisi and another in Kakheti. I’d seen their wines around Tbilisi, in fact my regular hotel keeps a display of them in the lobby. However, I’d never tried them until the 2017 New Wine Festival I attended in Tbilisi. I came home from that trip with two of their wines, including this Sachino made from Rkatsiteli, which likely needs no introduction, grown in Kakheti.

Alcohol: 11% abv

Color: very pale, almost colorless

Nose: Stone fruits, citrus, mineral, floral; very pretty

Palate: Off-dry on the palate with pronounced flavors of apricots, white flowers, honeysuckle, golden raisins, and stone. Noticeable but easy acidity balanced the light sweetness creating a charming and food-friendly wine. My favorite food pairing for lightly sweet wines is usually Cajun blackened salmon which went very well this.

Vaso Ramazashvili Chinuri, 2015

Vaso Ramazashvili wines I discovered one spring when I attended the Zero Compromise festival in Tbilisi. I believe the winery may be based in Kakheti with the grape for this wine, Chinuri, originates in Kartli, in eastern Georgia. High in acid, Chinuri is often used in Georgian sparkling wines and can also be found blended with Goruli Mtsvane. However, finding varietal wines like this one is not overly difficult.

Alcohol: 12.3% abv

Color: cloudy lemon

Nose: Pronounced aromas of lemon sherbet, pear, citrus, bread, and tarragon

Palate: On the palate the wine was dry with a medium body, racy acidity, and flavors similar to the aromas sensed in the nose. Added to those were flavors of apple, apple cider, and quince along with lingering flavor of tarragon on the medium long finish.

Papari Valley Rkatsiteli, 2015

When I first encountered Papari Valley at the New Wine Festival in Tbilisi they were so shiny new they practically glowed having only released their first wine in 2015. Located on the slopes of the Gombori mountain range in the Akhasheni village in Kakheti, Papari Valley is a family-run estate that makes Rkatsiteli and Saperavi in the traditional Kakhetian way (spontaneous fermentation in qvevri etc).

I tend to shy away from Rkatsiteli in order to seek out the other, if not so ubiquitous, white grapes of Georgia. But after tasting Papari Valley’s unfiltered, qvevri-aged Rkatsiteli at the festival I knew I had to have a bottle for myself.

Alcohol: 12.5% abv

Color: intense amber orange

Nose: Apple, peach, apricot, and yeast with herbal hints

Palate: Sipping revealed a wine of refreshing character with crisp acidity. Flavors of apple cider and peach skin filled the mouth while medium tannins highlighted tangy herbal flavors.

Chateau Mukhrani Shavkapito, 2014

Normally I gravitate towards smaller producers and try to avoid the factory-sized wineries. However, in this case I was happy to try this wine from Chateau Mukhrani. Shavkapito, like a lot of the black grapes in Georgia, often gets overshadowed by Saperavi and I’ve found it difficult to find almost anything else in Tbilisi wine shops.

Meaning “vine with a black cane,” Shavkapito, like Chinuri, originated in Kartli. Shavkapito is terroir-reflective, as grapes grown on the valley floor will produce relatively full-bodied wines; wines from the slopes and mountain foothills will be lighter and softer, with delicate aromas. While the grape can be (and is) vinified and aged in qvevri, Chateau Mukhrani fermented its wine in stainless steel and aged it in Caucasian Oak barrels.

Alcohol: 12% abv

Color: medium ruby

Nose: Jammy aromas with red fruits like plum, cherry, and rhubarb wrapped in smoke and dried meat

Palate: Dry with a medium body and medium high acidity on the palate and flavors that largely reflect the nose. Mouthwatering acidity brightened the tart rhubarb and cherry flavors with medium tannins carried the smokey and meat flavors through to a medium finish.

Kerovani Cabernet Sauvignon, 2015

My whole shtick is usually native grapes; particularly in countries like Georgia that have so many of their own, unique varieties. When I can have Cabernet made in Bordeaux or California, why would I want Georgian Cabernet? Kerovani, that’s why. This was another producer I met at the Zero Compromise wine festival. A young winemaker based in Sighnaghi, Archil Natshvlishvili left a career in computer programming in 2012.

Alcohol: 13% abv

Color: deep mulberry purple

Nose: The nose exploded with wild forest fruits, blueberry, meat, chocolate, black currant leaf, and eucalyptus.

Palate: Palate flavors, like the aromas, were pronounced and intense. Crackling acidity lent freshness to the tart black currant and wild blueberry fruit flavors while almost aggressive tannins present throughout left woody and forest floor flavors. The whole drinking experience with this wine was analogous to eating not only wild, forest-grown berries, but eating the forest itself.