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Rus: Georgian Wines and Spirits

© Dr. Donald Houston

On the eastern shores of the Black Sea snuggled up to the Caucasus Mountain range rests a country of some 5,000,000 people, a land rich in ancient and modern history, agriculture, literature & extraordinary wines, it is. . . . the Republic of Georgia!

Georgia, formerly part of the Soviet Union, has a long & ancient history of winemaking. The word "wine" is of Georgian origin. Ancient wine vessels dating back to 5000+ B.C., recently unearthed by scientists, offer evidence to support this theory. Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar & other notables of history enjoyed Georgian wines.

Georgia's moderate climate and moist air, influenced by the Black Sea, provide the best conditions for vine cultivating. Even though a small country, Georgia is home to more than 500 varieties of wine, which have been enjoyed by Georgians, Russians & a great many Europeans.

Wines of Georgia
Georgia is considered the source of the first cultivated grapevines. Tools of grape and wine production, clay vessels for wine, and art and jewelry depicting grapes and grape leaves found in Georgia have been dated as far back as 5000 BC. The ancient symbol of Christianity in Georgia, which arrived in the fourth century, is a cross woven of grapevines.

Traditional Georgian grape varieties are little known in the West. Now that the wines of Eastern and Central Europe are coming to international awareness, grapes from this region are becoming better known.

The two most important grapes used in Georgian wines, Rkatsiteli and Saperavi, have the potential to produce excellent, if not great wines. Rkatsiteli is a white variety that is so widely grown in Eastern and Central Europe that it ranks third in the world in hectares grown. Rkatsiteli is high in acidity and is capable of producing wines with fine character. Jancis Robinson, author of the The Oxford Companion to Wine, calls Rkatsiteli "very important and high quality" in her review of world grape varieties.

Saperavi produces substantial deep red wines that are suitable for extended aging, perhaps up to fifty years. Saperavi has the potential to produce high alcohol levels and is used extensively for blending with other lesser varieties. A third variety, the white grape Mtsvane, is also important in Georgian wines, and is often blended with Rkatsiteli to which it adds a fruity, aromatic balance.

There are five main regions of viniculture, the principal region being Kakheti, which produces seventy percent of Georgia's grapes. Traditionally, Georgian wines carry the name of the source region, district, or village, much like French regional wines such as Bordeaux or Burgundy. As with these French wines, Georgian wines are usually a blend of two or more grapes. For instance, one of the best-known white wines, Tsinandali, is a blend of Rkatsiteli and Mtsvane grapes from the micro regions of Telavi and Kvareli in the Kakheti region. Kindzmarauli is a semi-sweet, deep red wine from the Kvareli micro-region made from Saperavi grapes. Traditionally, Georgian wines were (and are) fermented in large clay vessels called "kvevris" and left with skins and seeds for an additional 3 or 4 months. Certain wines such as the white Gurjani and dry, red Mukuzani are aged in oak casks. Georgian wineries and grape producers have also adopted European practices for wine production, and there is now a wide selection of new wines. Other excellent and interesting traditionally named wines are the semi-sweet red Khvabchkara and Akhasheni, and dry red Kvareli.

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