Ep 164 - Georgia

This week we explore of the country of Georgia and it's unique and amazing wines.

Wine Recommendations

Dila-o Rkatsiteli-Mtsvane 2016 - priced around $16.

• This is an Amber or "Orange" wine style, but made in a lighter style with only 1 month of skin contact. It is a perfect introduction to the style.
• Aromas of honey, tropical fruits like melon and apricots, spice and white flowers
• It’s dry with light body, light tannins, medium plus acidity and flavors of lemon drop, white flowers, apricots and slightly herbal
• Great acidity so it will be awesome with food
• It has the sour beer quality to it that we often get from orange wine
• Food pairings: Salads, Salmon and Poultry

Tchotiashvili Vineyards Mtsvane 2015 - priced around $28. 

• Another orange wine but this one is a very deep amber color
• Aromas of honey, juniper, dried apricots and cigar ash
• This wine is dry with medium plus tannins and acid - the most tanninc non-red wine we ever had
• Flavors of meat (hot dog water?), dried herbs, hint of apricot with eucalyptus on the finish
• If you were blind tasting this wine, you might not know it was wine at all - the combination of flavors and tannins levels really confused us
• We’ve used the the phase “never had a wine like this before”, it hasn’t been more true than in regards to this wine
• It paired really well with southwest inspired roasted corn salad we made
• Decant and enjoy lightly chilled

Tchotiashvili Vineyards Saperavi 2015 - priced around $28.

• A deep purple colored wine with aromas of blackberry jam, coriander, dust and mint
• It’s dry with medium tannin and acid, full body with flavors of fresh blackberry and grilled meaty/savory component
• We argued whether this wine was more fruity or savory, Betty compared it to Zin
• It’s fresher in the taste than the nose and it’s bold and complex but still approachable

Sources:

• Book: The World Atlas of Wine
• Wines of Georgia 
• Wine-Searcher 
• Wikipedia