WINE OF THE WEEK: Teliani Valley Saperavi 2024, Kakheti, Georgia
- May 14
- 2 min read
£14.50–£16.99, Hennings Wine, WoodWinters, Kwoff, Connolly’s Wine, Vine & Bine, Cellar Door Wines
Georgian wine is having a moment – as is the country’s food, conveniently. One of the main reasons has to be that, however the wines are produced, especially the reds made from the indigenous Saperavi grape, they never lose their distinctive Georgian identity – their authenticity.
You can keep Saperavi away from qvevri, the pointed-bottom amphorae-like clay pots that are sunk into the ground, and instead ferment it and age it in stainless steel or new oak, or both. You can filter the wines, rather than bottle them unfiltered. But whatever you do it’s hard to take the Saperavi character out of Saperavi.
Winery 97’s Teliani Valley Saperavi 2024 is a case in point. It’s fermented in stainless steel for around 12 days, which is a relatively short skin-maceration time, before being separated from the skins to continue malolactic fermentation and ageing in stainless steel. No qvevri, no oak, no ageing with skins, and it’s filtered before bottling.
The result is a mouth-filling, rounded wine with velvet-soft tannins, refreshing acidity, ripe dark-plum fruit, liquorice, clove and touches of leather and spicy vanilla.
In keeping with the grape variety, it is also a strikingly deep ruby colour. Saperavi is one of the world’s minority teinturier wine grapes – red grapes with red flesh. Most red wine grapes have white/colourless flesh, the colour of the wine coming entirely from the skins.
Teliani Valley Saperavi is an approachable, easy Saperavi that would be a very good option for a barbecue. It goes well with spices, including chilli – think chilli con carne or merguez sausages. I was sent a jar of adjika paste, a traditional Georgian chilli paste, to try out with the wine and it worked particularly well as a coating for flavousome free-range pork chops and steaks and also with octopus. 13.5%. Empty bottle weight: 547g.
Winery 97 Teliani Valley Saperavi 2024. Kakheti, Georgia
£14.50–£16.99, Hennings Wine, WoodWinters, Kwoff, Connolly’s Wine, Vine & Bine, Cellar Door Wines
Sourced from the Kakheti region, this wine is made in a clean, modern style: stainless steel fermentation, short skin Slither io contact, and no oak influence.
As a wine writer and WSET educator for 30+ years, I always admire Joanna's writing style and content. Joanna captures the aesthetic and the technical with fluid miscibility. A champion of the unusual and the unfamiliar, Joanna is a seasoned scout sourcing new discoveries. The ancient wines of Georgia have been waiting 8,000 years for a more global appreciation and recognition. Gaumarjos!