Georgian wine has great potential in Asian market
March 29–TBILISI, Georgia — The Georgian president sees great prospects ahead for Georgian wine in the South Korean market. President Mikheil Saakashvili told Georgian journalists in Seoul on Thursday.
“However, our companies should approach the matter with greater ingenuity,” he added.
The president said: “They know how to drink wine in South Korea, as in other Asian countries and wine from many world countries’ production is represented.
“Georgian companies try to enter the European wine market where there is a plentiful supply of such products and no problems with the sale of wine in Asia, since these are new markets and there is a great interest in new products,” he said.
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Jakeli Organic Vineyard and Wines
Ancient Georgian village Khashmi in Kakheti is famous with Saperavi grape variety.
Jakeli family started the vineyard in 2001. 6 ha of Organic vineyard is set up near village Khashmi at 760 m from the sea level, at the picturesque place of Iori valley, full of field flowers, blackberry, sweetbrier and sea-buckthorn bushes bordering forestry mountains.
Unique combination of alluvial soils and peculiar local climate produces intense dark, rich in body, exquisite wine. Naturally, without any chemical nutrients and speed up of the vinification process, wine preserves personality and unique aroma of the terroir.
- Vineyard is managed in organic way, never irrigated and sprayed maximum 5 times in May-July;
– Vineyard soil is intact, not cultivated to allow soil food web develop and improve its structure. Grass is scythed several times per season and used for mulching;
– Harvest usually is carried out in the middle of October. Grape is hand-picked, sorted out and processed immediately.
– First phase and Malo-Lactic fermentation are conducted in a clean and healthy way, no nutrients used;
– Cold stabilization is carried out in natural way;
– Sulfites are used in the smallest amounts and only after the Malo-Lactic fermentation;
– Wine is aged for at least 30 months and bottled NOT FILTERED.
Certified organic by Jakeli are pioneers of organic winemaking and are certified as organic since 2009, standard Green Caucasus. Certificate issued by Caucascert which is accredited by German Accreditation System and is applicable for European countries as well.
www.jakeli-wines.ge
Georgia: One of the world’s oldest wine-producing countries
This tiny country — which borders Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey to the south, the Black Sea to the west and Russia to the north and east — has been reinventing itself after 70 years under Communist rule as part of the Soviet Union.
And, yes, wine is part of the picture.
“When I started importing Georgian wine, people would say, ‘This is from Russia,’ and I’d say, ‘No, Georgia is its own country with its own wine and culture,” says Alla Wagner, the Calgary-based co-owner of Lotus Vini & Spirits.
“But 10 years later, it’s coming into its own.”
Georgia’s Winemaking History
Slowly, slowly. While few North American wine drinkers may have heard of it, the country boasts one of the world’s oldest wine cultures; archeologists have unearthed vitis vinifera pips and other evidence of winemaking dating back 8,000 years, to the fifth and sixth centuries BC, and wine exporting has taken place there for more than 2,500 years.
Christianity has also been linked with winemaking since its introduction in Georgia, around 300 AD; today, the monks at the country’s monasteries have been some of the greatest protectors of Georgian wine traditions.
And there are many; Georgia is especially renowned for an ancient form of winemaking that uses qvevris, clay “jars” (some hold up to 9,000 litres) lined with beeswax, filled with crushed grapes and juice, and then buried in the ground — originally done, some speculate, to control temperatures and to protect the wine from invaders.
These days, many smaller wineries are still using the traditional ways and grapes; the country boasts more than 500 indigenous varieties, many of which are being researched and documented at the National Centre for Grapevine and Fruit Tree Planting Material Propagation in Saguramo.
Most North American wine fans, however, likely couldn’t name a single Georgian grape — or find the country on a map of the world.
“For the most part, Georgian culture is underappreciated in the West,” says American importer Darrell Corti. “It just lies there, waiting to be discovered.”
But judging by the traffic jam at the Tbilisi airport, people are starting to discover it — and along the way, they’re finding one of the world’s earliest wine cultures, too.
Main Grapes in Georgia
While Georgians claim more than 500 indigenous grape varieties, only a handful are known outside of the country. Here are four that can be found in the Canadian market:
Rkatsiteli — A popular, food-friendly white primarily used in Georgia’s Kakheti region.
Kisi — A white variety that can make delicate and beautifully aromatic wines.
Saperavi — A red grape that makes rich, lush wines, which can be dry or semi-dry. Wines show great potential for aging.
Mtsvane Kakhuri — A popular white variety.
Pretend you’re in Georgia
Track down the following documentaries for a behind-the-scenes look at the Georgian wine scene:
Cradle of Wine, directed by Merab Kokochashvili — An interesting documentary about the origins of Georgian wine. Lots of art, music, culture, interviews. Subtitles.
That Crazy French Woman…In Georgia, directed by Master of Wine Isabelle Legeron — A fascinating look at ancient Georgian winemaking traditions today.
Georgian Producers in the Canadian Market
Not many Georgian wines are for sale in Canada, but look for the following:
Pheasant’s Tears
Co-owned by John Wurdeman, an American who travelled to Georgia to paint, but fell in love and stayed. Pheasant’s Tears makes traditional qvevri wines, fermented in massive clay jars buried in the ground. Imported into Alberta by Lotus Vini Inc., and soon to be in B.C.
Tbilvino Wines
Tbilvino has been making wines since 1962. (The wines have won awards at the Wine Access International Value Wine Awards, most recently in 2011.) Wines are made from indigenous Georgian grapes, as well as international varieties. Select wines in Alberta and Ontario; as of press time, the wines are to be in B.C. in 2012.
If you go to Georgia
If you go If you hold a Canadian passport, you do not need a visa to visit Georgia, but you do need a passport that is valid for at least six months upon entry into the country.
Schuchmann Wines Chateau Kisiskhevi
District of Telavi, +995-790-55-70-45 or +995-593-71-88-58
With an incredible view of the Caucasus mountains, this winery has a restaurant and a small, but well-equipped on-site hotel.
Chateau Mukhrani
Mukhrani, Mtskheta, sales@mukhrani.com, +995-32-51-43-40
Dating back to 1878, much of this beautiful estate was left to collapse during the Soviet era, but is now undergoing a rebirth. The winery — which makes wines from traditional Georgian grapes as well as international varietals including chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon — is open for tastings. Construction is underway for a high-end hotel and restaurant, as well as a riding arena, tennis courts and more.
Explore Georgia
info@exploregeorgia.com, +995-32-2921-911
A friendly, English-speaking fellow named Nick Erkomaishvili, pictured at right, heads up this tour company, which offers everything from culinary and wine tours to back-country ski and hiking trips.
GeorgiCa Travel
info@georgicatravel.ge, +995-32-225-21-99
A company with English-speaking guides, offering wine tours, as well as cultural and adventure tours of Georgia and surrounding countries.
By Shelley Boettcher © wineaccess.ca
How to open a wine bottle
It is important that one should know that how to open a bottle of wine without hurting your hand with the corkscrew or drowning anyone in the fluid.
The first step in opening the wine bottle is to screw off the cap with the help of the corkscrew then lobbing it to the trash. In case if you are fighting with cap or spigot then it means that you are opening a wine bottle. If you are going to remove the cork then it means that you are going to handle the cork and the metal wrapping around it.
In ancient times the metal wrapping was made with the lead. Once when they found that lead kill man it has been switched to other alloys and now gasp and plastic are used.
Whatever it may be you have to decapitate it. To decapitate it one can use a sharp knife or bottle openers. The bottle openers used mainly to open a wine bottle is called as waiters pull. With the help of knife the metal can be sliced below the protrusion which is at the top of the bottle neck. After removing the metal make sure that there is no metal left at the lip of the bottle.
This is very important since when the metal touches the metal when you are pouring the wine in a glass the combination of wine and metal will oxidize the fluid.
To remove the cork three major devices are used. The easiest is the winglever. The second one is the Waiters pull. And the third one is the dishonest butler.
Wine and food pairing
Pairing food with wine is an individual choice. The taste differs from one person to other. So the solution for this problem lies in one’s own hand. Each one must able to decide within themselves which combination of wine will taste good with the variety of dishes. But this might be problem with wine drinkers who are just the beginners.
Food and wine pairing is a vastly a personal and imprecise procedure. In this matter the old proverb that is “primarily pair red wine with red meat and white wine with fish and poultry” will not hold good at all. And that too with today’s multinational and delicately flavored dishes and the corresponding wide variety of dishes the proverb will not match significantly.
First select your wine favor. More vineyard tours and wine tasting will help you to taste more wine of different sort and also helps you to choose the wine of your flavor. Then begin the wine pairing with the foods you like. Always pick a good wine you love and taste it with the food you enjoy the most you will not go wrong with the selection at all.
A state of stability and synergy is attained when you pair food with your favorite wine. Make sure that the wine does not overwhelm the food and the food does not overwhelm the wine.
Most wine drinkers taste different types of wines with food since the acids, sugars and tannins in the wine mix/interact with the food and give a different taste of sensation.
Wine drunk by itself tastes different than wine with food, because wine acts on food similar to the way a spice does. Acids, tannins, and sugars in the wine interact with the food to provide different taste sensations.
And the most important of all the things is that you do not have to stress about wine pairing with food. The best pairing occurs when the good wine is paired with good food and good company.
Below are some of the guidelines that can be used to find the best food pair for the wines.
If you are having wine in a party do not match them unless or necessarily you are requested to do so.
If you are serving more that one wine for a meal then generally the lighter wines should be served first before the full-bodied ones. And sweet wines should be served first before the dry wines if you are serving a sweet flavored dish in the meal.
Always lighter wines with light food and full bodied wines with heavy meals.
You can easily pair wines with the full and more flavored dishes.
Make sure that you do not pair dishes that are sweeter than the wines.
A point to be noted is that the bitter flavored foods will increase the percentage of bitterness and tannic elements in the wine. The bitterness in the wine will be decreased by the sourness and salt in the foods.
Wine tasting skill
Taste as much wine as possible on a regular basis to improve your wine tasting ability. The heightened sensory awareness of wine is highly personal. Factors such as wine temperature, ambient temperature, psychological and physical states contribute to wine’s taste.
The following characteristic are generally evaluated during wine tasting:
Color
The color of the wine gives the indication of age and maturity of wine. Young white wines appear pale in color while golden or straw color is found on older wines. Young red wine appear dark and opaque purple while red brick or amber hue is found particularly at the rim of the glass in case of older red wine.
Aroma
Distinct aroma is found in wine varieties. Different wines have different smell but the best one will have the complex collection. Tasting the wine should not be sniffed. The aroma tells the flavor of the wine which is one of the important aspects of tasting the wine. The deep and long inhale tells the taster of the wine about its quality.
Taste
To judge the taste of the wine is to look at its structure: sugar, tannin, acid, alcohol content and concentration of flavors. These attributes should balance each other except for wines that are designed to be out of balance. Barolo and Rutherlen Muscat are the two well known examples.
Body
The viscosity, consistency, thickness and texture correspond to the term “body”. The wine with these capacities has a higher alcohol or sugar content. Tannin also acts as a major component. The best way to figure out the taste of wine is to think of milk. Wine is differentiated into light, medium and full-bodied.
Aftertaste
The impression made by the wine after you drink the wine is aftertaste or finish. This attribute reveals a lot about the quality of the wine. The wine is said to be better if it has a longer finish. The hidden quality of the wine is revealed by the finish which is not even apparent on the nose.
Wine evaluation
How to evaluate a wine whether it is a special or ordinary wine? To the individual on the street it does not mean a matter, if the wine tastes good then it would be the special wine.
But, the tasteful wine experts evaluate wine by their make, quality and vintage. The experts look in to the three basic elements like appearance, aroma and taste. These basic gives some basic knowledge about the evaluation of wine.
Appearance
Color and quality are the important factors that help to evaluate the different types of wine. Fine wines have certain properties that help the experts to evaluate the wine. On basis of color, the hue displayed by different types of wine is noted down by the experts.
The color depends on the variety of grapes and ripeness during harvest. Fermentation process also affects the color. The amount of oxygen that comes into contact during bottling also affects the wine color.
Young white wines appear in pale straw yellow to a rich amber color. White wines have golden hue color. White wines darken in color as they age. If browning appears in young whites, it means that they have been oxidized ahead of time which results in a poor quality. Red wines usually appear in the range of deep ruby red to a paler cherry color. More bright colored hue appears around the edges of the older red wines. As per red wines it should happen.
The experts hold a half-full glass of wine against a white background for evaluation. They observe the clarity and color of the wine. The color should appear brilliant and rich than cloudy for finest wine, with appropriate color for its age and type.
Aroma
In finer quality wine evaluation smell plays a big factor. The wine smell usually attracts the drinker first before the taste. Wine smell helps the expert to judge the wine in a better way than their taste. To let the unstable essences to escape, the experts swirl the wine in a glass and evaluate it.
Since the wine smell takes the smell of the fruits, spices, herbs and other substances, it helps a lot to test the quality of wine. That’s why the characteristic pleasant smell of a wine is usually associated with the smell of fruit, herb, spices, etc, in order to provide identifiable comparisons.
Taste
The properties that are not provided by the appearance and smell are evaluated with the help of the taste. Qualities that make up the overall personality of the wine such as acidity, tartness, sweetness etc, are evaluated through taste.
The balance that each wine imparts is the key factor that experts look for when it comes to taste. The experts check this by taking a sip of the wine and moving it back and forth inside the mouth before swallowing, giving the first idea of the wine taste.