Asakenli Otskhanuri Qvevri | 2022

About a two-and-a-half-hour drive west of Tbilisi, Imereti is an inland region with a humid subtropical climate, with slight influence from the Black Sea. Soil types vary from stony loams with high contents of calcium carbonate and limestone. A prominent white wine making region, plantations of red grapes have increased over the years, like Otskhanuri-Sapere.  The name “Otskhanuri Sapere” literally means “Otskhana’s colourful” — referencing the village of Otskhana in western Georgia. Lighter in body and color, this is nothing at all like the heady, colorful Saperavi wines of Kakheti. Otskhanuri reminds me of a woodsy Burgundy showing lacquered red and plum fruits, forest spices and damp earth. This expression from Askaneli was fermented and aged in the traditional earthenware Qvevri, which enhances the wine’s texture, making this is an underrated, light red crowd-pleaser ~Allegra A