Why You Need to Try Georgian Wine

Georgia, the country between the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains, has been making wine for approximately eight thousand years. That is not a typo. Archaeological evidence from Gadachrili Gora dates winemaking there to around 6000 BCE, making Georgia the oldest wine-producing region on earth. While everyone argues about Bordeaux versus Napa, Georgia has been quietly doing this longer than anyone.

The traditional method uses qvevri, large clay vessels buried underground. Grapes go in whole, including skins, seeds, and sometimes stems, and ferment naturally without added yeast. The qvevri are sealed with beeswax and left for months. The result is amber wine, also called orange wine, with a tannic, textured quality completely unlike anything produced in Western winemaking traditions. UNESCO added the qvevri method to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2013.

Saperavi is the grape you need to know for reds. It is a teinturier variety, meaning even the flesh is pigmented, producing wines that are almost opaque in color with flavors of dark berry, earth, and black pepper. A bottle of Teliani Valley or Pheasant's Tears Saperavi costs under twenty dollars and will recalibrate your expectations of what red wine can be.

Rkatsiteli is the dominant white grape and the base for most amber wines. When made in qvevri with extended skin contact, it develops flavors of dried apricot, walnut, and honey tea. When made in a more conventional style, it is crisp and apple-driven. Either way, it is a variety that deserves far more attention than it receives in the Western market.

Georgian wine culture is inseparable from the supra, a traditional feast presided over by a tamada, or toastmaster. Wine is not just a beverage in Georgia. It is a social ritual, a spiritual practice, and a national identity. Tasting these wines means connecting with one of the deepest, most continuous winemaking traditions on the planet, and most bottles cost less than a mediocre California Pinot Noir.

https://winefolly.com/deep-dive/country-of-georgia-wine-guide/