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Gotsa Chinuri Pét-Nat

 

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Every time I go to Tbilisi I look for new wines I haven’t seen before. One of my favorite sources is g.Vino wine bar. Great wines, food, service, and you can buy all their wines to go. g.Vino sports a fantastic collection of quality Georgian wines and often has things that I cannot find easily elsewhere. Like this Gotsa Chinuri Pet-Nat!

Gotsa Winery

At Gotsa winery, wine is a family tradition that founder Beka Gotsadze is determined to preserve. Located 4200 feet above sea level in the hills of the Asureti Valley, in the Atenuri appellation, Gotsa is only about a 30 minute drive from the Georgian capital Tbilisi. If, that is, one wishes to attempt nearly impassible dirt roads to get there! 

Gotsadze makes his wine in the traditional Georgian method, meaning with large clay qvevri. More than simply burying his qvevri in the ground though, his creativity and innovation are evident in his gravity flow qvevri winery. Built high in the mountains, the Gotsa winery and cellar comprises two levels, the first for fermentation the second for aging. Gotsadze drilled holes in the upper level, fermentation qvevri to allow the wine the flow into the lower lever, ageing vessels. Prior to burial, he wraps all qvevri with silicon tubing attached to a cold water spring. Each can be individually adjusted to cool the qvevri during fermentation. Warm water then gets pumped to an indoor swimming pool. In the late winter the flow reverses and water warms the qvevri to encourage malolactic conversion.

From vineyard to wine, Gotsa wines have nothing added. Near obsessive organic farming eschews sulfur and copper for the 13 (native) varieties grown among 25,000 vines. In the winery wines result from spontaneous fermentation. Some have no skin contact, others remain with skin and stems for as long as seven months.

Gotsa Chinuri Pét-Nat, 2017

I’ve had very few pétillant naturel wines and this was my first amber! Pétillant naturel (or pét-nat) are sparkling wines made in the méthode ancestral. In this method, wines get bottled before they complete their first fermentation. Carbon dioxide from the finished fermentation process then dissolves back into the wine much in the same way as the traditional method’s second fermentation. Another different from the traditional method is that pét-nats do not undergo disgorgement so the wine contains all the lees and other flotsam from lack of filtration.

Pumpkin orange with subdued bubbles on the pour the the Gotsa Chinuri Pét-Nat exuded aromas of apple cider vinegar and orange bitters. Apple cider vinegar may not be the first complimentary thing that comes with mind with wine but it was really very pleasant! I don’t mean it had the stringent aroma of commercial apple cider vinegar. It more gave off the fragrance of good, country apple cider that’s started its own fermentation. Dry dry dry on the palate with a medium body, alcohol (12%abv), and acidity with a gentle effervescence. Palate flavors largely reflected the apple cider and orange bitters sensed on the nose with the addition of popcorn and fresh tarragon on the longish finish.

I very much enjoyed this. Generally I like Gotsa wines and I always enjoy a Chinuri. Reall it was inevitable that I would like the pét-nat! It proved a lovely accompaniment to a mixed cheese and charcuteri board and roasted pumpkin with rosemary. Interestingly, the fresh rosemary canceled out the vinegar flavors and brightened the apple.