'Exile on Caucasus'

Rkatsiteli, Imereti, Georgia 

Let’s be real, Georgia is the orange AKA skin-contact wine capital of the universe and although the recent reinvigoration of the style has given it a certain du jour quality, qvevri-aged, skin contact wine originated in the country 8000 years ago! If you’ve never had the pleasure, Georgian wines are imbued with a deep sacrosanct energy that makes you feel like you’re drinking something truly mystical. Rkatsiteli, the most classical of Georgian white grape, is macerated on its skins in qvevri for 20 days, then pressed & racked to more clay qvevri and old French oak barrels. There is a beautiful balance between the freshness & acidity preserved by qvevri and the richness imparted by oak. The nose revs up with a hit of sandalwood oil so intoxicating a whiff would literally stop a stranger in their tracks. Black tea leaves, aniseed, menthol, dried apricot, almond and hazelnut round out the palate. If this wine were a person, it would be Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra. Pair with fragrant Moroccan tagine and heaps of gold jewelry.