That’s how long experts think wine has been made in Georgia, no, not the land of red clay and Jimmy Carter, but the beautiful country in the Caucasus, on the north coast of the Black Sea sandwiched between Turkey and Russia. How and when grape cultivation and wine-making spread, mostly westward into Europe, is a topic of speculation, and little has been researched on the DNA relationships between current Georgian vines and the best known western grapes. The Georgians claim, too, that the word “wine” is the same as their word. So maybe our Cab and Pinot Noir are descended from a Georgian grape, and maybe not. Do we care, if it tastes good?
There are thought to be 525 native varieties, many very ancient, mostly unpronounceable! Saperavi may be the best known, a red grape which makes a wine similar to Blaufrankish. We’ve seen a semi-dry wine made from it in Costco.
Traditionally in Georgia, wines are fermented in earthenware urns called qvevri, which are buried in in the ground, and stay there.
Yup, they throw the whole mess of grapes and skins underground and let it ferment through the winter, it’s at a constant temperature. With white grapes, this results in an amber wine, wine with tannins which is very food friendly.
The qvevri may be lined with beeswax, and the solids drop to the bottom. How do they get the good stuff, the wine, out of the buried qvevri? In olden times, they would ladle it out with a long stemmed gourd, in more modern times they use a pump. Either way, what’s left can be distilled into “brandy”, while the wine is bottled. Wines have also been made the European way, in stainless steel and/or oak, for around 150 years.
Try looking for Mtsavane or Tsinandali for a dry white, similar to viognier, or Kisi and Rkatseli, wines a little like Chenin Blanc. Khikhvi qvevri amber wine pairs perfectly with a salty white cheese. The most common red grape we found was Saperavi, which makes a medium bodied red not so different from Blaufrankish. It’s won prizes in blind tastings at international competitions, so it’s not to be trifled with.
So if you’re feeling adventurous, you have to try Georgian amber wine. It’s different and special!
Cheers!
-Submitted by Guy Gimson
(Image credit: Pixabay.com, Vinepair.com and Guy Gimson)