From Georgia With Love

Georgia has been a wine producing country for some 80 centuries. Eight thousand years. That's 3,000 years before humans started writing. That's how long Georgians have been making wine. 

Many of the country's producers still use techniques that have been around almost as long, like natural fermentation and the use of qvevri, large, earthen, egg-shaped pots in which the wine is vinified and aged. 

Dugladze Winery is located in the Kakheti region, in the eastern part of the country, in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains overlooking the Alazani River Valley. The 2020 Dugladze Saperavi Muscat is a semi-sweet red wine which combines the robust Saperavi grape with the aromatic Muscat.  It clocks in with alcohol at 14% abv and costs around $14.

This wine is medium-dark ruby colored. The nose is quite aromatic, full of dark fruit like plums, blackberries and black cherries. There is also a significant earthiness about it, reminiscent of a wine made from a North American grape, but not that extreme. The palate is semi-sweet and fruity. There is a savory aspect to it and the tannins are very soft, almost unnoticeable. The wine would pair well with cheese or a fruit tart, and it sips wonderfully on its own. I'd like it with a turkey or ham sandwich, too. 

Teliani Vineyards seems to be known as Teliani Valley on the label. Their 2022 Semi-Sweet Red Wine is made from Saperavi grapes which were grown in the specific area of Kakheti known as Kindzmarauli. They thrive in the warm clime of Kindzmarauli. The wine has alcohol at 12% abv and sells online for $18.

This wine is a brilliant purple in the glass. Its nose smells like blueberry, blackberry and currant, as sweet as you think fruit should be. The palate offers a semi-sweet taste, full fruit flavors, with a racy acidity and a firm set of tannins. This wine will pair well with a meat dish, particularly pork or ham. It's not a bad choice for the holiday meal, either.

Now for dessert. The 2022 Dugladze Khvanchkara is a semi-sweet red wine served up in a tall, slender dessert wine bottle. It is a blend of two indigenous grapes, Aleksandrouli and Mujuretuli. Alcohol is low, at 11% abv and the price for the 375 ml bottle is $25. 

This wine is a bit on the sweet side, but not completely dessert wine sweet. It is dark purple in the glass and smells of plum and currant. The palate offers those dark fruit flavors, with little else to get in the way, save for an earthy note that drapes over them. I would pair this wine with a fruit and cheese plate, or a pork dish in a sweet glaze. 

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Two Wonderful Georgian Wines

Sun Wine is wine from Georgia - the country, not the state.  No Foghorn Leghorn imitations are needed, but if you can manage a decent Eastern European or Western Asian accent, get that one going as you pour.  The republic of Georgia has more than 500 grape varieties on vine.  The label on the bottles mention that in 2016 archaeologists discovered clay vessels in the country containing cultivated grape seeds that date back to 6,000 B.C. - prompting Sun Wines to lay claim that Georgia was the birthplace of wine.

The Sun Wine story dates back more than 50 years, when grand-dad Mzekalashvili planted some Rkatsiteli vines and started making wine.  He used - as does the present winery - qvevri, giant terracotta clay pots in which the grapes turn into wine.  Sun Wines are brought to the U.S. by Georgian wine importer Sada Wine Imports of Philadelphia.

The 2018 Saperavi is a dry red wine made from Saperavi grapes - the name means "to give color," which they do indeed in this dark wine.  The wine has an alcohol level of only 12% abv and sells for about $18.  It really took me back a bit, to Spanada, a wine my mother used to drink back in the 1970s.  That is not an insult, by the way, but a compliment.

The nose on the Saperavi is dark and rich, just beautiful.  Aromas of blackberry and cassis join with savory notes of tobacco and leather.  The palate brings black cherry into play and a fresh acidity keeps it lively.  The wine tastes young, but is still plenty complex.

The 2018 Tsinandali is a dry white wine made from 80% Rkatsiteli and 20% Mtsvane grapes, sourced in the Tsinandali appellation, in the Telavi region.  Alcohol hits 12.5% abv and the retail price is about $17.

This wine's nose is a little bit apricot, a little bit floral; a little bit citrusy, a little bit saline.  There is even an earthy lanolin note coming through.  The palate is where the Tsinandali really makes its mark.  It has highly unusual flavors, most of which lean into the savory side of the spectrum.  The apricot is tempered by a nutty taste, reminiscent of - but not replicating - a Roussanne, or maybe a North American white wine.  Acidity is great.  I'm glad I had the opportunity to sample this grape.

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