2019 Chelti Kakheti Saperavi "Heritage"

Chelti is a family-owned and operated winery nestled in the Caucasus mountains of Georgia. Georgi Mirianashvili, who left his banking career and the capital city of Tbilisi behind back in 2001, and moved to Shilda, the village of his wine-loving ancestors, to pursue winemaking. Mostly traditional in his approach, Georgi’s many of Georgi’s wines are aged in qvevri, however other wines will see oak or stainless steel. The grapes are all hand-picked, and wild yeast fermented. Not only is the farming sustainable, but the winery is planning on transitioning entirely to solar power in the near future. This particular bottling is 100% saperavi, which is a teinturier grape that has both red skins AND red flesh. Be sure to behold the incredibly deep dark color in your glass before you sip. Then perhaps be a little surprised by how relatively light on its feet this wine is (no qvevri aging here)! That said, saperavi is perhaps best paired with gamey red meats and heavier fare. But if roasted boar isn’t in your future anytime soon, maybe just bring it to the next backyard bbq?