2021 Pi Winery, Rkatsiteli-Mtsvane “Akura” Dry White Qvevri Wine, Kakheti, Republic of Georgia.
The beautifully clear and mineral driven Akura by Teko “Teona” Omarashvili of Pi Winery shows off an elegant version of Qvevri skin macerated Georgian wine with its golden hue and a medium bodied palate of lemony citrus, apricot, quince and green apple fruits, along with a touch of phenolic grip, a light savory note, as well as wet stone, bitter almond, lime blossom and lip smacking salinity. As the wine gets air the textural nature comes through and this is a serious wine that needs food to see its best quality and true personality to shine through, which smooths out the range of flavors and allows a more pleasing experience here. Thanks to Lisa Granik MW, I learned Georgian wines and especially the Qvervi, a clay vessel used to ferment and store wine, which is a Georgian invention that is now on the UNESCO World heritage list of cultural items and is an iconic symbol of ancient winemaking. Not just in the past, but it is now finding a home in Western and modern winemaking from Europe to Oregon and California along with it’s little brother the terracotta Amphora, though in Georgia the Amphora is used only to transport the finished wine, not make it, the Qvervi, which is buried in the earth, is Georgia’s tool of choice. Also, Granik notes that for a long time we thought of Georgia as a red wine making country, though in fact, something that I learned at a brilliant seminar she gave, back in 2016 in San Francisco, it is white wine which is most made/grown in Georgia, with grapes like this Kisi, and Mtsvane, as well as the most widely planted varietal Rkatsiteli, seen here. Currently these Pi Winery offerings are not imported to North America, so I was very grateful that this talented winemaker shared her own wine with me and I give her views on the future of Georgian wines!
The Pi Winery, based in Tbilisi, as mentioned in my prior review, is really new on the scene starting with the 2019 vintage, but Omarashvili is already waking waves and her tiny production is in demand, so it was great to taste her set of wines and hear her story of getting started. Her family had been farming vines for generations and she has taken over a few plots and created her label, looking to craft natural, terroir, single vineyard wines, which she has done to good effect with her Saperavi and this “Akura” Qvervi fermented dry white wine. Omarashvili’s version of Qvervi wine is made from 80% Rkatsiteli and 20% Mtsvane grown in a single parcel on clay and carbonate alkaline rich soils and fermented together with 70% clear run and 30% skin fermented with all natural yeasts and no additives, with this vintage seeing somewhere close to 4 months to achieve the wines beautiful balance before being bottled. After bottling, Pi Winery matures the wine in the cellar for a year or so, this helps tame the phenolic bite, but has not taken away any vitality and this 2021 is just starting to reveal its potential, and I think it should only get better over the next 3 to 5 years. Again, I owe most of my own knowledge of Georgia to Lisa and I highly recommend reading her work and especially the latest edition of her book! “The Wines of Georgia” by Lisa Granik, available on Amazon and other fine book sellers. Her detailed work, from many dozens of trips to Georgia, really help paint a picture of this mysterious ancient wine region, which is now believed to be the oldest wine region in the world. Dating back 8,000 years, the Caucasus region, or the Republic of Georgia, is believed the most likely birth place of wine and Omarashvili is fiercely proud of her heritage and her wines are fantastic tributes her country’s history, I highly recommend them and I hope they become available here in the States.
($N/A) 94 Points, grapelive