Georgia is often considered to be the birthplace of wine, with known production dating back roughly 8,000 years.
But what is the oldest grape?
Well, that is hard to say. But Dzelshavi is considered to be one of the oldest grape varieties documented in Georgia, and has history dating back 1,500 years. Today, it is still grown in Georgia, and Vartsikhe Maran's Dzelshavi certainly is an interesting one!
When it comes to skin-contact Georgian white wines (often referred to as orange wine outside of the country), we'll be the first to admit that some can be quite intense.
For those looking to try this style of wine for the first time, the notes of prolonged skin contact can be a bit surprising as it is unlike most notes you find in traditional white wine. For some, this can be overwhelming.
Baia's Wine Tsolikouri is an excellent introduction to skin-contact Georgian wine because this element of winemaking was limited- only 30% of the wine touched skins and with nominal time in qvevri, too. Some of the best flavors of skin-contact without an overwhelming intensity? Sign us up!
Georgian wines are always interesting, especially when they're aged in traditional qvevri.
Vartsikhe Marani's Tsolikouri is one such wine made in an orange style with skin contact for several months. The result of this one is an intensely aromatic wine that showcases the best of the white grape with strong skin characteristics, too.
We always like to celebrate when we book vacations- often in the form of takeaway from a restaurant focusing on said country's cuisine. But when we booked a trip to visit Georgia in 2021, we opted to go a different route- wine.
I rushed out to a local wine store that I knew had a great stash of Georgian wine and picked up a bottle of Vine Ponto's Rkatsiteli 2015. After a brief chill, we opened the bottle and, well, we were a bit surprised!