Three Cheers for Saperavi and Georgia’s Wine Market Miracle

This column is inspired by a recent birthday celebration dinner that featured three very different Saperavi wines from Georgia.

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Mariam invited us to a dinner celebrating her husband Todd’s birthday and we accepted with enthusiasm, offering to bring some Georgian wines with us. Mariam is originally from Georgia, so her dinners often feature dishes you’d find at a Georgian supra feast. Sue and I were happy to share Georgian wines, but we had a selfish hidden motive. We wanted to see what our fellow guests would think about the wines.

The guest list was diverse in terms of wine experience. Mariam and Todd knew Georgian wines very well, of course. Several guests were knowledgable wine enthusiasts, but had never tasted Georgian wines. Saperavi? Is that a grape or a region or a brand? And the rest were novices, intrigued by the opportunity, and willing to try something new.

Three Faces of Saperavi

Sue and I brought three Georgian wines we had received as samples. The sparkling  Mtsvane Estate Pet Nat Saperavi Rosé was beautiful in the glass and delicious on the palate, with nice acidity and great balance. Everyone enjoyed this wine, but Todd’s reaction was the most memorable. One taste and he knew where he’d had that wine before. At their wedding in Georgia. It was not just a special wine but also a memory of a special day. And, of course, it was a completely different idea of Saperavi. A great beginning.

The other two wines we brought to the party were alike (both were Saperavi wines), but also different. We wondered what our friends would think of them. One, the Dugladze Saperavi Qvevri, was made in the traditional Georgian way, fermented and agerd in qvevri clay vessels buried in the ground with only the lip of the vessel in view. This is a very old way of making wine which has been rediscovered and put into use around the world in different forms.

The final wine, a Schuchmann Saperavi, is a modern take on Georgian wine, fermented and aged in stainless steel to preserve aromas and fruit. Sue and I visited the Schuchmann winery when we were in Georgia for a wine tourism conference several years ago. We were confident that this wine would please the guests. But how would it compare to the other wines?

Of course the wines paired well with Mariam’s Georgian-style feast. What was surprising was the reaction to the wines. As Sue noted the next day, everyone embraced the wines and enjoyed them (which doesn’t always happen with unfamiliar wines or even familiar ones), but in different ways. One novice was fascinated by the Dugladze and Schuchmann wines because they were the same but also so different. She tasted them again and again.

Sue appreciated the qvevri wines, but was drawn to the clean stainless steel Saperavi best. What nice fruit and balance! Who wouldn’t enjoy this wine? I was drawn to the qvevri wine as often happened when we were in Georgia. I find a certain energy in some of these wines that really appeals to me.

Georgia’s Wine Market Miracle

Conclusions? The sample size, both in terms of drinkers and wines, is too small to allow much generalization, but it is hard not to be impressed with these wines and Georgia’s progress.

Saperavi may be Georgia’s best known wine grape variety, but it is certainly not the only one or even, depending upon whom you ask, the best. Saperavi is to Georgia what Malbec is to Argentina, the relatively easy-to-pronounce signature grape variety that is both an advantage in breaking into new markets and a liability because it can over-shadow other options like a delicious semi-sweet red Kartuli Marani Kindzmarauli and a dry white Akido Kisi.

To Saperavi and Beyond

We had an opportunity to taste both these wines a week after the birthday party gathering. Todd’s brother missed the party because he was fishing in Ketchikan and we were invited back to share the Coho salmon he caught there. What a treat!

White wines are actually more popular in Georgia than red wines (and are gaining share on reds in the overall market here in the U.S.). And sweetish reds are a large market segment here, too, even if they don’t get a lot of publicity. Lots of potential for Georgian wines.

The Kisi was a perfect match for the Coho baked under a layer of caramelized sweet onions. The Kindzmarauli was juicy and grapey and paired nicely with everything, but was is “semi-sweet?” As we know from our Riesling tastings, sweetness is very subjective, but Sue says that this wine is so well-balanced that she’d call it off-dry, not semi-sweet. In any case it was a hit with both Mariam (it reminded her of her Georgian home) and Todd (it was the taste of the first wine he was served on his first trip to Georgia).

Random Walk in Tbilisi?

You are unlikely to stumble upon Georgian wines like these on a random walk through your upscale supermarket’s wine aisle, but imports of Georgian wine have been growing in recent years. I searched the inventory of my local Total Wine & More store, for example, and I was surprised to find 37 different Georgia wine SKUs. That is sort of a miracle when you think about it. Red, white, and qvevri amber. Dry and semi-sweet. Easy to pronounce Saperavi and more challenging grape variety, region, and style names, too.

How does Georgia compare to other “Cradle of Wine” countries in terms of their Total Wine footprint. Armenia, which has been making great strides recently, has only two wines on my local Total Wine shelf, both made with the Areni grape variety which is easy to pronounce and also makes delicious wines. I could not find any wines from Turkey, which also has a very long wine history.

Three cheers for Saperavi, Georgia, and its wine market miracle. And best wishes for success navigating the uncertain waters ahead.

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I mentioned Turkey in the article above for three reasons. First, because, of course, it shares a place in wine history with Georgia and Armenia. Second, because Sue and I have a little experience with Turkish wines and appreciate their potential in the U.S. market. The third reason is that I have been reading a review copy of Mehtap Emmie Turan’s book Turkish Wine: Past, Present, and Future of Viticulture in Turkiye. The book examines the land, the grapes, and the wines as you would expect, but I especially appreciate the attention to history, culture, politics, and business challenges. It made me realize that, while Turkey and Georgia are different in very important ways, they also share certain challenges. Perhaps Georgia’s success will inspire the Turkish wine sector. Fingers crossed.