Tbilvino Saperavi 2023
Once, Tbilvino was the largest wine company in the Soviet Union. Much has changed since the fall of the Iron Curtain. In the early 90's by the entrepreneurial brothers Giorgi and Zura Margvelashvili bought the winery with the help from the World Bank. They had very different plans: to give the wines their typical Georgian identity back and to produce quality instead of quantity.
| Country | Georgia |
| Region | Kakheti |
| Wine maker | Tbilvino |
| Grape varieties | Saperavi |
| Terroir | The Saperavi grapes come from the winery's own vineyards in the micro zones of Mukuzani, Akhasheni, Khashmi, Kindzmarauli, Napareuli, Kvareli and Kondoli in the Kakheti region. The vineyards are located in a valley at the foot of the Caucasus, at an altitude of 200 to 700 meters. They take advantage of the cool wind that descends from the Caucuses. The climate is warm to subtropical with dry summers and mild winters with often snow. Soils are predominantly alluvial clay and loam with calcareous subsoil. |
| Harvest method | Handpicked. |
| Yield per hectare | 10 tons per hectare. |
| Vinification | After four days on the skins, the wine is pressed off and finishes primary fermentation in stainless steel tanks before undergoing secondary Malolactic fermentation at 25/27°C. Then 20% of the must matures for a month in used wooden barriques. This must is then mixed again in stainless steel tanks with the other must. |
| Impression | Spicy. Cherries, plums and blackberries. Laurel liquorice and soft tannins. Ripe, with a lot of length. Medium to full body. |
| Did you know? | Saperavi means 'paint' in Georgian, because of the dark red color of juice. In the Middle Ages, frescoes were painted with the juice of this grape. |