Nose
Black cherry fruit with hints of bell pepper and leather.
Palate
Full-bodied, rich with tannin, prune, dark sweet cherry, berry and black plum flavours.
Growing Conditions
The micro-zone Napareuli is located in Telavi municipality, on the left bank of the River Alazani. The vineyards sit 400-500m above sea level on the Alazani left tributaries, lower stream of Stori and Didkhev-Lopota running from the Southern tributaries of Caucasus Mountains. The coordinates 42°3' Northern longitude and 45°31' Eastern latitude. The micro-zone includes the villages of Napareuli, Saniore, Jughaani, Artana, Pshaveli and Laliskuri. The distance between the rows in the vineyards is 2 m; height of stems are 60- 90 cm; pruning shapre is one-sided or Georgian two-sided or free. The vineyards are organic with vine age ranging bewteen 20 to 25 years.
Harvest
As these vineyards are located under the Greater Caucasus mountain, harvest is stared towards the end of September when the weather was a bit cooler and the grape aromas are high. All grapes are picked by hand with the main advantages being the worker’s knowledge and discernment to pick only healthy bunches and handle them more gently. Picked grapes are stored in a plastic boxes and transported to the wine cellar using company owned truck.
Bottling
As these are premium wines, they are bottled by hand and do not undergo any filtration process. The bottles are individually numbered and due to the production style, may throw off sediment. To make their wines visually different, in 2011 Zurab Kviriashvili Vineyards created the first Qvevri shape label in the world. All labels are painted by Zurab Kviriashvili and every year they make some changes to their labels.
Winemaking
The vintage is harvested and delivered for processing to a special room called a marani (wine cellar), where the Qvevri's are buried underground. Most of the Qvevri's were made between 1950-1965. To clean the Qvevri, workers climb inside the vessel and use a sartskhi (a brush specially designed with layers of cherry tree bark) to scrub the walls. “If the Qvevri is cleaned properly, you will be able to drink the last drops of water from the bottom of the vessel”. Only wild yeast is used during the fermentation process and all fermenting including malolacting fermentation is done in Qvevri in accordance to the old Georgian Traditional Method. The founder and winemaker of the company, Zurab Kviriashvili, was born in the city of Telavi (Capital of Kakheti Region). From 2000 to 2002 he graduated from an Enology Course in California, USA. From 2003 he studied Wine Marketing at Davis University in California, USA.
Aging
After fermentation, the wine was aged in Qvevri for 7-8 months. When the Qvevri was opened, wine was transferred into the steel tanks and was aged for a further 6-9 months. After bottling, it was aged further in bottle in the winery cellar.
Appearance
Deep ruby in colour.
Food Pairing
Fried pork, lamb, grilled meats and vegetables, fried sea fish, and Gouda cheese. Recommended temperature for serving is 14-16°C. Decant at list 30 min before serving to allow the flavor profile to open up.