Vazisubani Estate Saperavi 2018

Vineyards:

Vineyards were planted in 2016 at one of the best plots of the Mukuzani PDO – Vazisubani Estate. We have Saperavi Round Berry and Saperavi Budeshuri, i.e. with ovoid berries. The latter matures 10 to 14 days earlier than its counterpart and is plentiful in varietal aromas, is softer and easy to tame with its tannins.
The vines are treated only manually including selective picking, when ready to harvest. Both types of Saperavi are considered the best of Georgian reds and probably amongst the few best in the world.

Soils: Sandy stony clay at 450 to 550 AMSL with carbonate bedrock.

Yield: max 6-7 tons/ha, equivalent to 45 to 50 HL/ha.

Harvest: Harvest day is decided when the grapes are fully responding to the final wine style requirements. We pick our grapes only manually to ensure the highest quality. Sometimes we co-ferment both Saperavi-s to ensure the years specifics are used for the best of the final style. However, in most cases we vinify Saperavi Budeshuri alone for its suppleness in Qvevri Style.

Vinification: Depending on the year, grapes may be or may not be de-stemmed. Partial de-stemming may also be applied. Crushing is mostly avoided as well as we do not chill the must. Instead, we pick grapes very early and try to start wild fermentation at the natural temperature. The size of our QVEVRIs are from 1300 to 2 500 L. This allows us to conduct wild fermentation at the soil temperature without peaking it too high, thus retaining the true characters of the year. Naturally
started fermentation stops when wine is dry. From here we taste all the QVEVRIs and we fill up each individual ones from the selected ones leaving them full for a long maceration up to 2 to 3 months. Then macerated wines are taken off their bottoms, which contain: Yeast lees, skins, seeds and sometimes stems. Wines are let to breathe, i.e. left in contact with air. Here we may or may not conduct MLF. Then, we transfer wines back to QVEVRI or other containers for further clarification
and style formation. Once the style has been reached, they go through preparations for bottling. Our Saperavi Qvevri ages for 6 to 8 months before its release.