Although for long the wines from Georgia (the country in Caucasus, not the US state) have been completely absent from the global wine market, they have recently started to be noticed throughout the world. This is not only because of the interesting indigenous varieties one can find there, but also because of the rising trends of orange wine and vinifications in clay amphorae – both methods that have been used in Georgia for several millennia.
The main reason why Georgian wines have been for so long unheard-of is that during the Soviet reign (1921–1991) Georgia produced the great majority of wine in the Soviet Union and the wine industry was emphasizing quantity over quality; especially the simple, semi-sweet Georgian red wines were popular in the Soviet Russia. Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, this quantity-oriented mindset persisted, as newly reformed Russia was the biggest – practically the only – export market for the country. Only a handful of small wineries started pursuing quality over quantity after seven decades of state-controlled wine production, but with only modest results. Only after the Russian embargo on Georgian wines in 2006 the Georgian wine industry began to change: they had to look for completely new markets, and whereas the Russian always bought all the Georgian wines they produced, no matter the quality, the other markets were different. When the wineries realized that only those quality-oriented producers, who made dry high-quality wines could actually sell their products abroad, began a great shift in the Georgian wine industry as numerous producers changed their focus on dry quality wines and foreign investments started flowing into the country. By 2010's, a great paradigm shift had occurred, and many Georgian a producer had established a good market presence in the western wine market.
If there is one single grape variety that would best represent Georgia, it is definitely Saperavi. This old, winter-hardy and productive variety can produce remarkably different styles of wines, ranging from the mellow, semi-sweet Kindzmarauli wines to those often rustic, aggressively tannic and angular kvevri wines made in the Kakheti wine region.
Saperavi is often called teinturier variety, which means that unlike the great majority of red grapes that actually have clear pulp and juice, they have also pigmented, red pulp and juice. However, according to Jancis Robinson's Wine Grapes, Saperavi is not actually a true teinturier, having clear pulp, although the variety's juice is still pink-colored. But a teinturier or not, Saperavi is best known for its deeply-colored, often completely opaque, black-red wines that have given rise to its name, meaning "dye". With its normally high tannin levels and good acidity, Saperavi can create in skilled hands quite sweet red wines of remarkable balance, but it is also a variety well-suited for crafting structured, robust and ageworthy reds. Normally the variety does not reach remarkably high sugar levels, keeping the alcohol content at modest 12–13,5% if vinified dry, although in hottest regions of Georgia dry Saperavis can reach alcohol levels of up to 15%.
Saperavi is a very old variety that originates from the southwestern part of Georgia, close to the Turkish border. From there the variety has gradually spread throughout the country; no-one knows how old the variety really is, but the earliest documents describe the variety as early as the 13th century and there is evidence that the variety was well-spread throughout Georgia already in the 17th century. The winemaking traditions of the different parts of Georgia are strongly rooted; in the cooler and more humid parts of western Georgia producers often make smoother and sweeter reds, whereas drier and more tannic wines are favored in the warm and dry Kakheti region located in the eastern part of Georgia.
The clay amphorae – kvevri in Georgian – mentioned earlier are one of the most peculiar aspects of Georgian winemaking. These large, beeswax-lined clay vessels, often ranging from several hundred liters to a few thousand liters of volume, were used for thousands of years in Georgia. However, they fell out of favor in the early 20th century when the wineries started to employ modern winemaking equipment, and kvevris were all but abandoned for decades. But with the recent renaissance of Georgian quality wines and emergence of new quality-oriented vintners, kvevris are back in the game. The traditional method of making a kvevri wine is to crush the grape clusters into a pulp of juice, grape skins, stalks and seeds. This pulp is then moved to these clay amphorae, where the wine would then ferment with the natural yeasts, and after fermentation, the solids would then fall to the bottom of the jar. Due to the conical shape of kvevrikvevris before bottling, although aging times of over a year are not uncommon. Usually the resulting wine is seriously tannic, bone-dry and robust; wines made from red grapes opaque and deep-colored, and wines made from white grapes often hazy with colors ranging from luminous golden yellow to copper-tinted deep amber. These are the wines of real, unique character of Georgia. They have also been a source of inspiration for many trailblazing, open-minded winemakers; this style of winemaking seems to have resonated most with the more naturally-oriented Italian, Slovenian and Croatian producers in and around the Istrian peninsula.
Now here is a selection of different Georgian Saperavi reds.
Tbilvino Mukuzani 2012
Mukuzani
- Tbilvino
- Country: Georgia
- Region: Kakheti
- Grape(s): Saperavi (100%)
- Price: 14,99€ / 0,75
- Tasted on: October 24th, 2015
This wine is made by Tbilvino, a winery founded in 1962 that was one of the biggest "wine factories" in the Soviet Union. After the fall of Soviet Union the winery became independently owned and changed their focus from bulk wine to wines of higher quality and character. This wine is a Mukuzani, which means it is a dry Saperavi from the Kakheti region. Unlike regular Saperavi wines, all Mukuzanis must be aged in oak barrels – traditionally the Mukuzani wines were aged extensively in oak, often over 3 years, but currently most commercial Mukuzanis see only 9 months of barrel aging.
The wine has practically completely opaque black-red color, typical of Saperavi.
It has dry, youthful and rather modern-ish nose of prunes, jellied dark berries and ripe black currant. There is also a hint of smoky and spicy oak, but otherwise the nose is very pure and emphasis is on the fruit.
The wine has full-bodied mouthfeel with some sense of concentration, yet feeling fresh and vibrant as well. The ripe palate is dominated by sweet dark fruits, but this sweetness is nicely balanced out by tart lingonberry flavors and a good, tannic bite. There is also a nice undertone of dark cherries and red forest fruits.
The midpalate leaves a lengthy, tight-structured and slightly coarse finish in the mouth with lingering flavors of lingonberry, ink, some bitter and dry woody spice and bright mouthwatering acidity with a hint of tannic astringency in the aftertaste.
87/100
Summary: Superficially this is a modern, polished Saperavi, but underneath its shiny and glossy surface it is a characterful and even a bit rustic red wine with a little welcome roughness in the edges. Though not the most complex effort, but it still shows nice structure and it is wonderfully in balance. I wouldn't surprise if the wine would also benefit from mid-term cellaring. A perfectly enjoyable example of Saperavi.
***
Monastery Wines Saperavi 2012
- Winery Khareba
- Country: Georgia
- Region: Kakheti
- Grape(s): Saperavi (100%)
- Price: ?
- Tasted on: March 2nd, 2016
I was a bit amused by the name of the wine – Monastery Wines Saperavi – because the kvevri wines of Alaverdi Monastery are some of the most acclaimed ones in Georgia. As the Khareba winery started to make kvevri wines some 5 years ago, following the trends, they most likely decided on a name, that would not only invoke mental pictures of the Alaverdi kvevri wines, but also confuse the unknowing customer for the benefit of Khareba.
So this is a wine from the winery's Monastery Wines range, denoting wines made in the clay kvevris. Though the white wines of the range often see extended maceration times of several months in the earthenware vessels, the red wines are usually macerated only as long as the fermentation lasts, usually only for a few weeks.
The wine's color is youthful, slightly translucent dark ruby.
It has an interesting, characterful and very fruit-forward nose of sweet cherry, plummy fruit, some cherry pith, a little boysenberry and a hint of bog bilberry jam.
The moderately full-bodied palate does not manage to reach the interesting, fruity complexity of the nose, but instead offers a rather simple melange of ripe sour cherry, some cranberry, a little sweet dark cherry and a hint of bitterness. The wine lacks structure, as the acidity is modest at best with very unassuming, almost nonexistent tannins.
The wine finishes with a sweeter, juicy aftertaste of ripe dark berries with flavors of blackberry and hints of crowberry on the fore. A little tannic grip brings in some mouth-drying astringency and bitterness to the short-to-medium-length finish.
80/100
Summary: A very soft and smooth example of kvevri Saperavi, lacking the structure and intensity one would expect from such wine. Very mellow and easily approachable; a kvevri wine with training wheels.
***
Orgo Saperavi 2012
- Teleda / Orgo
- Country: Georgia
- Region: Kakheti
- Grape(s): Saperavi (100%)
- Price: ?
- Tasted on: March 2nd, 2016
The Orgo winery is spearheaded by Giorgi "Gogi" Dakishvili, a man better known as the winemaker of more famous Schuchmann and Teliani Valley wineries. The produce many natural-style wines exclusively from their own vineyards and they have specialized in making kvevri wines. All their kvevri wines are made with natural yeasts and the wines are bottled without clarification or filtration with only a minimul sulphur addition.
Luminous dark garnet color with faint purple highlights and a hint of translucency.
Sweet, rich and very unique, meaty nose with most prominent aroma being that of sausage. Yes, that's definitely sausage. Other than that, there are aromas of raw meat, dust, dry old wood, graphite, some leather, a little sweet plums, a hint of cheese and a whiff of smoke. This is definitely some weird stuff – but in a most positive way.
The wine is rich, concentrated and full-bodied in the mouth with super-juicy flavors of ripe plums, sweet dark berries and some cherry – though the nose offered anything but fruits, the palate is completely the opposite. The tannins are quite abundant, yet also very ripe and mellow. Acidity is rather low as well; the wine feels rather big and voluminous, though not fat and wanting for structure.
The moderately long finish is full of supple plummy fruit and dark fruit with some bitterness and a touch of astringency from the tannins.
88/100
A very good, ripe and modern example of a natural kvevri Saperavi that has a very weird – though not that funky – nose but is flavor-wise quite ripe, smooth and easily approachable. An interesting fellow, though nothing mind-blowingly unique.
***
Pheasant's Tears Saperavi 2011
- Pheasant's Tears
- Country: Georgia
- Region: Kakheti
- Grape(s): Saperavi (100%)
- Price: 19,85€
- Tasted on: October 24th, 2015
John Wurdeman's and Gela Patalishvili's winery Pheasant's Tears is one the most-hyped natural wine producers in Georgia. This winery, led by a US-born painter and an 8th-generation grape grower, makes ambitious, structured red and amber wines of remarkable depth with completely hands-off philosophy. All the wines are vinified in kvevris without any kind of intervention, letting the wines ferment and macerate from several weeks to up to 6 months, depending on the variety, and finally bottling the wines without any clarifications, filtrations or sulfur additions.
The wine's color is opaque black red, without any viscous, overextracted look.
The wine has a dense and very rustic nose of dark, dry red fruits, dirt and dust, with notes of fresh blackcurrants and blackberries, meat stew, some smoke, a hint of burnt hair and a whiff of wet dog.
The tongue is greeted by a lovely, energetic palate offering intense flavors of ripe, dark berries, astringent spiciness, wild funk, some sous-bois, a hint of leather and a touch of smoke. The mouthfeel is dense and very full-bodied, yet flavor-wise the wine is surprisingly taut and bone-dry, giving it a paradoxical appearance of a wine that is both big and juicy, yet hard and angular at the same time. With early-picked Saperavi grapes that have been macerated for an extended time, the wine offers lots and lots of acidity with immense, grippy tannic structure.
Finally the wine moves onto its dense, inky aftertaste that leaves a lingering mixture of dark forest fruits, bitter spiciness, leather and a touch of dust. The finish is mouth-drying, astringent and flavor-wise very complex.
92/100
Summary: This Saperavi by Pheasant's Tears is an interesting, fascinating and even challenging red wine that is very unlike any modern "soft", ripe red wine. It is an intense, structured, authentic and unforgiving effort that is definitely not for everyone's taste and it obviously needs either hearty food or lots of cellar age – most likely both; this is not a wine to be enjoyed on its own. Truly wonderful.
***
Askaneli Nata Vachnadze Mukuzani 2007
Mukuzani
- Askaneli Brothers
- Country: Georgia
- Region: Kakheti
- Grape(s): Saperavi (100%)
- Price: ?
- Tasted on: March 2nd, 2016
This wine was a special bottling with a label depicting Nata Vachnadze, a Georgian actress (1904–1953). Despite its special label, I assume the bottle holds the regular Askaneli Mukuzani.
The wine is dark cherry-colored and completely opaque with a hint of haziness and some deposit on the bottom of the glass.
The nose is dusty, developed and quite rich with savory aromas of dark forest berries, dusty earth, leather, plums and notes of blackcurrant and pencil shavings, giving the wine an air of Bordeaux red, with nuances of sweeter oak, some chocolate, a hint of caramel and a touch of bretty farmhouse aromas in the background.
The wine seems more Bordeaux than Saperavi in the mouth with rich, chewy and slightly matured flavors of plums, ripe dark berries, some cedar, a little tobacco and a hint of leather. The structure is intense with moderately high acidity and pronounced, grippy tannins.
The finish is quite grippy and astringent with angular tannins, spicy oak and a lovely, complex mixture of dark berry, pencil shavings, peppery spice, some leather and a hint of rustic bretty notes.
91/100
Summary: While sipping the wine I felt that it might have been more fruit-forward, polished and "modern" in its youth, but now at 8 years of age it was drinking really wonderfully with some attractive, developed and complex characteristics. Even though the wine seemed more like a Bordeaux red than a typical Saperavi, it was really delightful stuff. Apparently a wine that rewards cellaring and will still hold for many years.
***
Winiveria Saperavi 2006
- Château Mere
- Country: Georgia
- Region: Kakheti
- Grape(s): Saperavi (100%)
- Price: 25€
- Tasted on: October 24th, 2015
This wine sealed with a wax capsule is made by Château Mere, a winery-hotel founded in 2005. As the wine was vintage 2006, it was either the second vintage ever of this label. It is a 100% non-interventionist Saperavi vinified in kvevris and bottled without any clarifications or filtrations.
The appearance is completely opaque red-to-black.
It has a very rustic, developed and unforgiving nose of manure, bretty leather, ink, dusty earth, spice and a hint of savory dark berries.
Taste-wise the wine is as rustic and unrelenting as the nose leads to believe: in the mouth it is dense, concentrated and extremely tannic with complex flavors of dark and ripe forest fruits, manure, dried prunes, dust, some leather and a hint of mature raisined fruit. Fresh acidity gives the wine both structure and focus.
The very long, complex, robust and astringent finish leaves notes and nuances of ripe dark berries, dusty earth, tannic bitterness, some leather and a hint of manure in the aftertaste.
95/100
Summary: Winiveria Saperavi 2006 is not only the best Georgian red I've had to this day, but also one of the greatest red wines I've ever had. It is incredibly structured, complex and nuanced effort that definitely calls for both hearty food and extended cellaring. Even at the age of 10 years this is definitely not for the faint of heart, with its combination of very rustic, unpolished character and incredibly tannic structure. These wines I need to seek more and age for a long time – they really do award it.
***
Tamada Kindzmarauli 2012
Kindzmarauli
- Georgian Wines & Spirits
- Country: Georgia
- Region: Kakheti
- Grape(s): Saperavi
- Price: 15,49€
- Tasted on: March 6th, 2015
The Tamada series of wine are a moderately priced range of different Georgian quality wines made by Georgian Wines & Spirits, a beverage company owned by the Dutch company Marussia Beverages. The company produces also another range of wines, Old Tbilisi, which are inexpensive, often sweet and offer really nothing of interest.
Kindzmarauli is an old, unique style of wine from the cooler, northern parts of the famous Kakheti valley, close to the Russian border. It is a semi-sweet red wine style made from Saperavi grapes; the sweetness usually ranges from 30 to 50 g/l with modest alcohol levels of 10–12%. Along with Khvanchkara, Kindzmarauli is considered to be the highest-quality sweet red wine in Georgia. Tamada means a "toastmaster" – a staplemark of Georgian culture: an outspoken person chosen before the dinner among the attendees, having a control over the flow of the dinner, the pouring of the wine and the endless series of speeches and toasts.
The appearance is very dark, almost completely opaque with a hint of higher viscosity from the residual sugar.
The nose is as dark and juicy as the wine looks with sweet, dark-toned aromas of ripe blackcurrants, some freshly picked plums, some blueberry, a hint of smoke and a touch of floral violet nuances.
The palate is obviously medium-sweet and quite full-bodied with moderate acidity and quite ample, ripe tannins that give the palate some sense of structure and firmness. The flavors are rich and expressive with notes of dark, grapey flavors, cherry marmalade, chokeberry, some ripe blackberry and a hint of clove spice.
The wine finishes with a finish that is both moderately sweet and a bit astringent from the tannins, supported by flavors of ripe dark berries, juicy cherries and some fresh blackcurrants in the aftertaste.
Having accustomed to red wines that are either completely dry to barely dry (less than 10 g/l of residual sugar) or really sweet red dessert wines, a medium-sweet red wine like this took me some time to get accustomed to. However, when you realize that this is not really that much of a regular table wine, but instead more like a port wine that drinks like a table wine, you start understanding it a little better.
87/100
Summary: Usually people expect simple, soft and barely drinkable wines when discussing semi-sweet red wines. However, good Kindzmaraulis are anything but. Tamada Kindzmarauli is very balanced, nuanced and nicely structured semi-sweet red that is not really dessert wine, but still works perfectly like one: it is a delightful accompaniment to different cheeses or savory desserts.
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