Georgia

Featured Georian Wine

Bedoba, Saperavi

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Georgia has been producing wine since 6000 BC, before the invention of even the wheel. Their historical production style, still used today, uses a qvervi, a large clay pot usually buried in the ground. It uses natural temperature control of the land and natural yeasts from the grapes bloom to ferment and produce their wines. The featured wine is Bedoba, produced using Saperavi grapes from vines over 30 years old from the Kakheti region near the border with Azerbaijan. The soils are rich in black shale on the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains at altitudes of around 400 metres. All the grapes are hand-harvested and carefully sorted through.

A small proportion is fermented as whole bunches in the qvevri using traditional methods, while the other grapes are left to dry naturally on the vines until November. They are then produced using modern techniques in larger 5000l vats. Although many Georgians still produce using traditional methods, they are also trying new techniques. This blended technique offers a delicate balance in the wine of savoury and spicy characteristics with fresh acidity and gentle tannins.

The historical winery, whose cellars date back to 1737, had strong connections with the church. This connection is honoured on the label of Bedoba, which shows the icon of Saint Nina.