The amber archetype of Georgia. Rkatsiteli, Kakheti's great white grape, fermented whole — with skins and stems — in qvevri, the beeswax-lined clay jars buried to the neck, a method UNESCO inscribed in 2013. It emerges deep amber, with the tannin and structure of a red: dried apricot, walnut skin and black tea. When the natural-wine world went looking for ancient method, this is the wine it found waiting, 8,000 years deep.
Dry white
Qvevri Rkatsiteli (Amber)
Robe — Deep amber — months on the skins in buried clay
- dried apricot
- walnut skin
- black tea
- orange peel
- Palate
- Amber and grippy — a white with the tannin of a red, from a long ferment whole in qvevri
- Ageing
- 5–15 years
- Serving
- 13–15 °C
The blend
A typical modern composition
100%
- Rkatsiteli100%
Where it is made
Producers
A few estates working in this style today — a sample, not a ranking
- Bialoni
- Pheasant's Tears
- Vinoterra