Saperavi is undoubtedly Georgia’s most celebrated red wine variety. A tienturier, red-fleshed grape, it appears to be native to Georgia though grown widely throughout the Caucasus and former Soviet states. It ripens late so needs time on the vine and relatively cool conditions, often afforded by a bit of altitude in the vineyard. As a variety it is very quietly trendy too, now planted in New Zealand and the USA for example.
Kakheti in Eastern Georgia is the source of around 70% of all of the country’s wines, and home to many of the top wine estates. Of course, this is an industry still adjusting and recovering from many years of Soviet control when volume was prioritised over quality. Private ownership and investment both from within Georgia and outside has begun to re-shape the industry in terms of its vineyards and winemaking.
Famously, Georgia has historically made its wines in Qvevri, large clay jars buried underground. The wines, both white and red, were fermented with their skins and aged in Qvevri. The renaissance of interest in these ancient winemaking techniques over the past couple of decades has been remarkable. Producers like Josko Gravner in Italy moved his entire production into Qvevri sourced in Georgia, but it is rare these days to visit any winery from Bordeaux to the Barossa and not see a few traditional clay vessels being used for part of the production.
Teliani Valley
Teliani Valley is one of Kakheti’s most prominent producers, and has taken the bold move to fuse and yet separate its production into traditional and modern winemaking facilities.
Their old winery is a traditional one, where senior winemaker Mikheil Khmelidze makes wines in the Glekhuri range, made in Qvevri and employing age-old techniques. But the separate Winery97, established in 1997, sees a group of young winemakers produce wines using state-of-the-art, modern equipment and techniques in a separate cellar.
The Saperavis
I recently had the opportunity to taste and compare three Saperavi wines made by Teliani Valley, two from ‘Winery97’ and one qvevri wine from the Glekhuri range.
The family resemblance was clear in the basic profile of the three wines. Each has a vinous, sappy and dry character with a solid black fruit core. The colours were also similar (perhaps thanks to that tienturier effect), but the differences between the wines was equally obvious.
Though the basic Saperavi gives an honest and authentic introduction to the variety, I did feel that both the Unflitered Winery97 and the Glekhuri wines stepped up a significant gear.