The everyday white of western Georgia, poured from the valleys of Imereti up into the mountains of Racha-Lechkhumi. Tsolikouri's tough skin and late, acid-keeping ripeness make it as happy as a crisp modern dry white as it is in the country's ancient amber manner — fermented whole in qvevri, the clay jars buried to the neck, where months on the skins give it colour and grip.
Bottled simply as "Tsolikouri," a dry varietal from the Racha hills is a newer face of a very old grape: not the semi-sweet Tvishi the region is known for, but the same fruit taken clean and dry — green apple, quince and a stony cut, with the acidity the cool Caucasus foothills preserve.