Casreli Chitistvala 2020
Casreli is a small wine farm from Georgia. A project of five befriended doctors under the inspiring leadership of Misha Dolidze. They know each other from their medical studies in Tbilisi. They make red and orange natural wines in qvevri. Their dedication and professionalism earned them prizes in the qvevri wine competitions in Tbilisi from the very first vintage, and not much later they achieved international success when their wine from the Chitistvala grape was chosen by the British wine magazine Decanter among the best orange wines in the world.
| Country | Georgia |
| Region | Kakheti |
| Wine maker | Casreli Wines |
| Grape varieties | Chitistvala 50%, Kisi 30% and Rkatsiteli 20% |
| Terroir | The grapes are picked from young vines in the Shaloant Akhoebi vineyard. It is located 400m above sea level with a stony bottom of clay and loamy soil. The vineyards are west facing with sun all day, on the right bank of the Alazani Valley. |
| Harvest method | Grapes are selected and picked manually. |
| Vineyard treatment | This is a natural wine made from organically treated vineyards. |
| Vinification | The grapes are slightly bruised and put in the qvevri. After spontaneous fermentation on wild yeasts, the wine matures for another eight months with the skins, seeds and stems in the qvevri. The wine is not clarified or filtered. Filtration happens automatically in the qvevri. |
| Impression | Fragrance of freshly ground black pepper, kumquats, rivella and marmalade. Ricola candies, apple pie, pencil sharpening and wildflowers. Power, structure and with tannin in the finish. |
| Alcohol | 13.70 % |
| Vegan | Yes |
| Did you know? | De Chitistvala is a very old and rare Georgian grape variety. The winemakers of Casreli had bought another variety from a monastery. In the vineyard it appeared different. It took Casreli a year of research to find out it was actually Chitistvala. |