Shavi K'Ravi 'Signagi' Mtsvane Amber Wine 2020

Signagi is a famous town in Eastern Kakheti. This sunny amber wine exemplifies the full-throated style typical of the region. Brilliant copper, the wine behaves in the glass like a loose honey. The wine smells sweet, of marmalade, tea and spice, but the taste is in fact dry and rather tannic. Not tannic like a big red wine; tannic like you ate a raisin with a seed in it. It is very much the flavor of the fruit. Made in buried terracotta kvevri from grapes grown in a single vineyard in the Signagi area on the right bank of the Alazani River. Mtsvane (“green”) is among the genetically oldest known vinifera varieties. The grape is naturally aromatic when fresh, reminiscent of Gewürztraminer, but after extended skin contact and a long oxidative vinification in terracotta it emerges transformed. In Georgia this style of wine complements the tapestry of flavors that make up the Georgian table. The longest and most indulgent parties will be hosted with a massive quantity of a single wine in this style.

About the winemaker:

We found a producer with a sizable collection of kvevri containing excellent wines originally destined for local restaurants. The pandemic’s devastating effect on tourism left this producer with extra wine, but anticipating the eventual return of visitors they were not very interested in export. So we suggested we buy the wine they have now, and if next time there is none that is OK. They agreed and helped us to bottle the wine at a nearby cellar. We selected four very different wines. Two from Kahketi, Georgia’s largest growing region, famous for tannic amber wines and toothsome Saperavi; two from Shida Kartli, a rather cool locality known for nearly opposite wines.

Vintage: 2020
Style: dry amber wine
Region: Signagi
Altitude: 360m
Soil Composition of Vineyard(s): light clay
Prevailing Climate & Local Climactic: continental, hot
Farming: organic
Grape(s): Kahuri Mtsvane
Harvest: September
Maceration: 6 month, destemed berries
Pressing: basket press
Fermentation/Aging: maceration and spontaneous fermentation in kvevri, pressed, returned to kvevri for more than 1 year aging.
Fining & Filtration Methods: none
Alcohol: 13%
Sulfur dioxide - 38ppm total, 15ppm added at bottling
Bottled: March, 2022
Bottles Produced: 5000

This amber Wine smells sweet, of marmalade, tea, and spice, but the taste is in fact dry and rather tannic. An exemplary Georgian amber wine.

Spontaneous fermentation. 6-month maceration in kvevri.