Wine of the week: a superb red from Georgia

This fruit-packed bottle is the first Georgian wine Matthew Jukes has recommended in 33 years.

Matthew Jukes
By
published
in Features

NV Vachnadziani, Saperavi, Kakheti, Georgia £9.59, Fintry Wines, 01206-366599, fintrywines.co.uk

This is a world first for me. Not only is this my first Georgian wine write-up in 700 columns in this esteemed publication, but it is also the first Georgian wine I have ever recommended in my 33 years in the wine trade. And what a way to kick off my appreciation of the intriguing vinous creations from this so-called “cradle of wine”. Indigenous rkatsiteli grapes’ seeds have been found in 8,000-year-old clay vessels in Georgia, so this country has had some practice at the wine game.

Vachnadziani was established in 1953 and it is one of the oldest commercial wineries in Georgia. Considerable investment has been ploughed into this estate, after years of neglect under Soviet rule, to bring it up to pace with today’s fast-paced wine world. With more than 1,000 hectares of vineyards planted and a large array of indigenous varieties in the portfolio, too, Vachnadziani has set itself up to champion ancient Georgia and embrace modernity.

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Saperavi is a “teinturier” grape – one of only a handful of red grapes whose flesh is pink, not clear. Accordingly, this is a particularly fruit-packed wine. This superb red is unoaked, nicely weighted at only 13% alcohol and it is bright, clean and juicy. There is a decent twist of spice bringing detail to the plummy core. It is the warmest and most convivial welcome I can imagine for those of you new to Georgian wines.

Matthew Jukes
Matthew Jukes

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.  

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’.  He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner. 

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy.  His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.

 

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