If Sarah Abbott MW has her way, Saperavi will soon be as familiar a grape as Shiraz. “It makes soulful tasting wines”, she says. Saperavi is Georgia’s hero grape variety. One of only a handful of grapes world-wide with highly-pigmented red flesh as well as skins, the name translates as ‘to dye’. Saperavi is the perfect flagship grape for a country which…
Qvevri – eight thousand litre earthenware jars – have become a vital part of the consumer perception of Georgian wine. The National Wine Agency of Georgia, together with Swirl & Market are determined to share the magic potential of these unique wines at this year’s London Wine Fair. With a national pavilion on stand K60, 15…
Natural wine producers Pheasant’s Tears, Iago Bitarishvili, Okro’s Wine and Iberieli join a delicious cast of hundreds presenting low intervention wines in London. The Real Wine Fair is on in London this Sunday, 12th May and Monday, 13th May. 170 wine makers from all over the world come to show their organic, biodynamic and low-intervention…
Georgia returns to London Wine Fair 20-22 May 2019, Stand K60 Fifteen producers from Georgia will be exhibiting on the national pavilion stand at this year’s London Wine Fair. As part of an expanded programme of activities for the UK market, 15 producers will be attending the Fair. Some of them are already active in…
Georgia is a small country, but the climatic and topographic variation is huge. You can find a spot to grow almost anything in Georgia, from tea to walnuts. (It’s one reason the country has been coveted by hungry and much larger neighbours throughout history.) Every wine style is possible in Georgia, but the one that’s really…
The National Wine Agency of Georgia has announced an expanded promotional campaign for the UK in 2019, noting that the UK is a globally influential and strategically important market, and that exports of Georgian wine to the UK grew by 30% last year. Throughout 2019, Georgian wines will be supported in the UK with a…
Precise and considered, Kakha Tchotiashvili is a quiet but inspiring force. His immaculate little marani is beautifully, almost sparsely, ordered. Kakha tolerates the surging interest in himself and his wines from the wine media. But he prefers to let the wine do the talking. He farms his family vineyards on organic principles, and makes tiny…
This small producer of qvevri wines was founded by the charismatic, curious and dynamic Eko Glonti. Eko’s previous careers were in medicine and geology, and their disciplines show in his sensitive and holistic approach to vine-growing and wine making. From his few hectares of vineyards, Eko makes a wonderfully diverse range of wines from indigenous…
This family winery is in Racha, a beautiful, remote and mountainous region of Western Georgia. Racha was once famed for its distinctive wine styles and unique grape varieties. Under Soviet times, these local varieties were uprooted in the relentless drive for standardisation. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Racha lost both people and vineyards,…
This relatively new estate has a fascinating back-story. Lado Uzanishvili brims with energy, enthusiasm and knowledge. Wine is in his blood. In the 19th century, his forefathers were chief winemakers on the princely estates of Alexander Chavchavadze. They went on to be awarded an Imperial Medallion and 100 gold coins for “Notable and Outstanding Winemaking”…