Iago Chinuri 2023

Iago Bitarishvili is Georgia's first certified organic winemaker. He grows this Chinuri (that's the name of the grape!) in the Mukhrani Valley, on limestone-rich alluvial soils, from 60-year-old vines. 2023 was not an easy year. Cold spring, wet, disease pressure. Iago waited. He didn't harvest until late October. He wanted ripeness and he got it. Then he put the grapes in buried qvevri. Whole stems, everything. And he left them there for seven months. His usual is five or six. But 2023 needed more. So he gave it more.

The wine has this beautiful dark, amber colour. It smells wild. Orange rind, honey, peach, spice, stone. A little meaty, a little peaty, a little smoky. There's some reduction happening, but as it sits in the glass, it opens up and gets fresher. The palate extends. It just keeps going.

This is not a wine for everyone, but if you're into funky-town Georgian qvevri wines, this is for you. Drink it with something bold. Lamb, aged cheese, short ribs that's been braising overnight.