Pheasant’s Tears Rkatsiteli Kakheti 5@5 – Jeff Segal – Eatocracy – CNN.com Blogs

Five Wines for Every Valentine’s Day Personality: Jeff Segal1.The puppy lovers – 2008 Pheasant’s Tears Rkatsiteli Kakheti approx. $18″Sure, it’s fun calling each other ‘jellybean,’ holding hands 24/7 and bumping uglies like it’s the apocalypse. But it’s time to get your relationship a little more serious. Start with this Rkatsiteli yes, that’s the grape from Georgia – the country. Its floral and honeyed aromatics will get your heart racing, but it’s the complex, layered flavors of salted walnuts, apricots and fennel that will keep you up talking all night.”

via 5@5 – Jeff Segal – Eatocracy – CNN.com Blogs.

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Georgian wine making technology

We shared a Georgian Saperavi 2003 today made by the Gogi Dakishvili, the wine maker at Vinoterra Winery. Gogi produces elegant wines using both traditional European and ancient Georgian wine making techniques. The wine is produced from 100% Saperavi grapes which are native to Georgia, although several wine makers in Australia and Upstate New York are beginning to experiment with the grape. The naturally thick skinned violet colored grape produces a deep colored wine. It is made into several styles of dry and semi-sweet reds.  The wine is initially fermented 20 days in Qvevri, clay vessels that have been used since the beginning of Georgian wine making. The earthenware vessels are stored in the earth to ensure a constant temperature.  The wine is then transferred to stainless steel for malolatic fermentation and finally is aged in French oak barrels for 2 years before bottling.  Like many Georgian wines, the substantial level of acidity in the Saperavi 2003 encourages food pairing. It tastes of ripe cherry, black current, pomegranate, and toasted oak. The strong earthly flavors naturally soften producing a supple and elegant wine. It would pair well with robust dishes with red meats or mushrooms.

Diverse Brands but United in a Name

From now on, the Georgian government and local exporters will work together for the popularisation of Georgian wine abroad. After a year long consultation with wine-producing companies, Georgian government decided to create a Wine Association, where the government will pay 600,000 GEL membership fees annually. This money will be spent to facilitate Georgian wine increasing its visibility in the global wine-market.

To reach foreign markets, Georgian wine-producer companies will be obliged to unite under the common label – “Wines of Georgia” ,however, companies are allowed to leave other product attributes unchanged. The government believes that Georgian wine has greater export potential in the world market when being under a common umbrella. The companies welcomed the idea to bring the image of the country as a wine producing one to the first place.

http://www.vinoge.com/en/news/diverse-brands-united-a-name

Georgian winemakers should go back to their roots,

Pheasant’s Tears currently produces about 40,000 bottles annually, one-third of which is exported to the United States. Unlike most wines produced by modern methods – including Teliani Valley’s – Pheasant’s Tears wines are organic and go through the entire fermentation process in amphora – large clay vessels buried underground.

Mr. Wurdeman said he believes strongly that Georgian winemakers should go back to their roots, rather than attempting to compete in the general wine market.

If “we could start making wines that could sell in the $200 price bracket and that were put out in limited quantities, then it would really change and develop Georgian wine in a positive way,” he said. “I think that it’s like a bird trying to fly through glass right now. The Georgians are saying, ‘We’ve taken out a $3 million loan from the bank, and we want to make a mass wine that’s going to be superpopular in California.’ Well, it’s not going to work. They have their own inexpensive jug wine, and they don’t need it to be sent from the Black Sea,” he said.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/23/georgian-wine-ages-well-after-2006-boycott/#

Wild Georgian Wines – Saveur.com

Wild Georgian Wines

via Wild Georgian Wines – Saveur.com.

Georgia and Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin

Georgia and the European Union have published the already protected geographical indications as part of the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin

via Georgian Business Week.

Georgian Wine tasting

John and I had found two wines from Khetsuraini Winery Otskhaniouri Sapare and Oussakhelouri that are limited to less than a few thousand bottles from small, very selected vineyards.

via Georgian Wine.

YouTube – Georgia, wine region Kakheti

YouTube – Georgia, wine region Kakheti.

Georgia’s first ever Decanter World Wine Awards trophy

Liza Bagrationi from the Badagoni wine company talks to Decanter about winning Georgia’s first ever Decanter World Wine Awards trophy. Interview at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London

via YouTube – Decanter World Wine Awards 2010.

Tradition, Tech Clash Over Wine

Some see the science-driven changes as a bad thing because they have sometimes increased yield at the expense of quality. But others think these naysayers are snobby traditionalists worried that high-quality, complex wines will become cheaper.

via Tradition, Tech Clash Over Wine.