I think that is a very perceptive and nuanced description.
I think it is also fair to say that Georgians know how to have a good time with family and friends, and that often involves food, wine and singing, and sometimes dancing.
That definitely seems to be the case! We never managed to bear witness to a supra (a Georgian feast), but basically every article about Georgia mentioned this part of their culture and during winery visits this aspect of their cultural heritage was never left unmentioned. ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
There are also non-touristy youtube videos of supras, which I have enjoyed watching. I’m not so naive as to take that as evidence for normalcy, but at the very least it shows that’s how the participants like to be seen.
Otto, this is very timely! I am heading to Tbilisi in a week from now and was looking for information on restaurants and wineries. My time will be very limited because I will be there for work, but should have one free day, and the evenings of course. Would you suggest Pheasant’s Tears if you had to restrict yourself to just one winery?
Are there worthwhile alternatives in Tbilisi?
Thanks!
At 15 miles or so from Tbilisi, there is Iago’s Wine to the NW and Gotsa Wines to the SW - both making natural wines in qvevri. They’re both worthwhile to visit IMO, but very different to each other, and different again from Pheasant’s Tears. I wouldn’t like to unconditionally recommend any one over others, but they all have a fair amount written about them on the web to help you decide what suits you best, and they can be located on google maps.
Perhaps one important factor that might not be obvious is that Pheasant’s Tears (the restaurant at least) is located in the town of Sighnaghi, which has great views over the Alazani Valley where most Georgian wine is made, and the journey from Tbilisi is a bit of an event in itself. And there are other winemakers in the same town, including Okro’s Wines, which I see Otto visited. The other places are more isolated in the countryside.
Steve beat me to it. I was going to recommend going to Iago’s myself, since if staying in Tbilisi, it doesn’t really make sense to take a taxi to Sighnaghi (1h15 to 1h30 in one direction) just for one wine tasting in a restaurant. The winery itself isn’t even in Sighnaghi, but - to my understanding - more middle of nowhere. However, if willing to take the taxi drive, one can visit both Pheasant’s Tears restaurant and Okro’s Wines at one go, since they are 10 minute walk away from each other. One gets to see the stunning views over the Kakheti valley (aka. Alazani valley) as well.
So then, day 4 - From Sighnaghi to Lagodekhi.
After we woke up, we went for a stroll through Sighnaghi to get some breakfast, since the hotel we stayed in had no breakfast option. We settled for a bottle of Saperavi-flavored lemonade, a cheese pastry and a sweet ponchiki (a custard-filled doughnut).
After our breakfast we were planning to go to Okro’s Wines, located at the highest peak of the village center. Since different sources said the winery restaurant was going to open at both 10 am and 11 am, we decided to play it safe and arrive past 11, after checking out first some spectacular views over the Alazani valley into the direction of the Caucasus mountains.
Okro’s Wines is a small family-run winery founded in 2004 by John Okruashvili, specializing in natural wines all vinified in clay kvevris. All the wines are made from organically farmed grapes, fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts and vinified without any sulfites at any point.
Well, it turned out that they actually opened at 12 o’clock, so we decided to spend an hour or so at the neighboring café. At noon we tried our luck again - this time successfully - and asked for a wine tasting. We were guided to the large terrace of the winery overlooking the Alazani valley and John Okruashvili’s sister Jane came to present us the wines.
- 2017 Okro’s Wines Mtsvane > - Georgia, Kakheti (3.9.2019)
Fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts. Macerated for 2 weeks with the skins in kvevris, after which the wine is transferred to another kvevris to age. Vinified and bottled without any sulfites. 11,3% alcohol.Cloudy, medium-deep yellow-green color. Fruity, ripe and somewhat cidery nose with aromas of canned pear, some volatile notes of nail polish, a little bit of pineapple and a hint of apple jam. The wine is lively, medium-bodied and slightly oily on the palate with flavors of ripe golden apples, some fresh pear, a little bit of nail polish VA, a hint of some sweet funk and a touch of stone fruit. The wine is fresh with high acidity, while the tannins feel very light and easy. The finish is ripe, sweet-toned and slightly funky with flavors of juicy golden apples, some sweet nail polish character, a hint of white peach and a touch of leathery funk.
A tasty, approachable and somewhat cidery amber wine from the more natural end of the spectrum. The fine feels like it could turn mousy with some air, but for the moment it feels very clean and fruity, if somewhat volatile as well. I’d perhaps enjoy it a bit more with somewhat cleaner character, but it is enjoyable as it is. A wild yet quite easy-drinking Kakheti orange wine, if there ever was one. Quite nice, but nothing groundbreaking.
(86 pts.)
- 2017 Sister’s Wines Kisi > - Georgia, Kakheti (3.9.2019)
A non-interventionist kvevri wine made from Kisi grapes. Fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts. Macerated for 7 months with the skins in sealed kvevris, after which the wine is transferred to another kvevris to settle. Vinified and bottled without any sulfites. 14% alcohol.Deep, luminous amber color. Very rich and potent nose of resinous phenolic character, cloudberry jam, some caramel, a little bit of wildhoney, light nutty tones of chopped hazelnuts and a hint of aromatic wild herbs. The wine is dry, medium-bodied and rather assertive on the palate with focused and quite robust flavors of earthy spices, some wildhoney, a little bit of resinous phenolic character, light sappy herbal tones, a hint of bruised apple and a touch of sweet, floral spice. The wine is noticeably structured with its high acidity and quite grippy tannins. There’s some acetic volatile acidity roughness to the mouthfeel that slightly increases towards the aftertaste. The finish is lively, long and quite tannic with intense flavors of juicy cloudberries, spicy red apples, some floral tones, a little bit of dried herbs, a hint of resinous character and a touch of acetic roughness. Despite the hint of VA, the aftertaste feels clean and pleasant.
A very impressive, attractive and beautifully fragrant orange wine from the assertive, structure-driven Kakheti end of stylistic spectrum. The wine has seen quite a bit of skin contact and it really does show - but only positively - in the firm, almost Barolo-like structure of the wine. Despite being extremely natural in style, the wine is very clean with good emphasis on purity of fruit - i.e. no noticeable funk or any faults like mousiness here. The elevated level of VA shows a little, but it never feels distracting or unpleasant. Terrific stuff that is quite tough and tightly-knit now, but perhaps some cellaring might be able to resolve the firm structure of the wine a little? Highly recommended.
(94 pts.)
- 2017 Sister’s Wines Tavkveri > - Georgia, Kakheti (3.9.2019)
A non-interventionist kvevri rosé made with the free-run juice from crushed Tavkveri grapes. Fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts and aged in kvevris. Vinified and bottled without any sulfites. 11,5% alcohol.Rather pale, clear raspberry red color, still surprisingly deep color for a rosé - I guess Tavkveri skins release color into the juice quite easily. Somewhat restrained and quite spicy nose with aromas of dried spicy herbs, some brambly raspberry tones, a little bit of red apple and a hint of earthy animal funk. The wine is dry, moderately full-bodied and quite lively on the palate with somewhat sweet-toned and pretty intense flavors of fresh raspberries, some red apples, a little bit of lifted nail polish character, light fruity notes of white peach and a hint of clay. The wine is moderately high in acidity. The finish is ripe and juicy with lively flavors of sweet golden apples, a little bit of white peach, a hint of earthy funk and a coarse, slightly unclean touch that feels it could turn into subtle mousiness with a bit of air.
A nice, pleasant and juicy naturalist rosé with good balance between ripe, sweet-toned fruit and freshness. Overall the wine feels like a fruity summer wine, but its quite wild and somewhat funky overall character makes me think that the wine is on the verge of showing mousy THP character. The wine might be clean enough to drink at the winery, but I worry it might turn unpleasantly mousy and funky if kept either open or in too warm temperatures for any longer than a brief moment. An interesting, drinkable rosé, but buyers beware! Keep the wine cool at all times and empty the bottle quickly - don’t let it stay open for too long.
(86 pts.)
- 2017 Okro’s Wines Saperavi Budeshuri > - Georgia, Kakheti (3.9.2019)
Made from non-teinturier Saperavi variety, Saperavi Budeshuri, sourced from the Alazani valley. Vinified in kvevris with a completely hands-off method, macerated for 2 weeks with the skins, no sulfites used at any point. 11,8% alcohol.Luminous, somewhat translucent and quite youthful blackish cherry red color with a pink raspberry rim. Brooding, sweet-toned nose of very ripe raspberries, some ripe red apples, a little bit of raspberry, light boysenberry tones and a hint of blueberry jam. The appley note makes the nose feel more like a dark rosé than a classic red wine. The wine is dry, medium-bodied and juicy on the palate with slightly extracted feel yet coming across youthful and quite crunchy with clean, vibrant flavors of chokeberries, wild forest fruits, some blueberries, a little bit of of brambly black raspberry, a hint of stony minerality and a lifted touch of VA. The structure relies mostly on the high acidity than on the tannins that feel quite ripe, round and easy for a Saperavi. The medium-to-moderately long finish is gently grippy with juicy flavors of tart and crunchy forest fruits, some black raspberries, a little bit of crunchy cranberry and a subtly acetic hint of VA.
A bright, fresh and fine-tuned Saperavi that is very crunchy and approachable - even relatively delicate - for the variety, which most likely stems from the fact that this is not the classic Saperavi the Kakheti wines are known for. Despite the subtly volatile character, the wine is very clean in style with wonderfully easy-drinking overall character yet with good air of seriousness to it. Even though the wine is from the extreme end of the naturalist spectrum, it is remarkably pure with no noticeable funk. Most likely it can develop in a cellar, but unlike some kvevri Saperavi wines, the wine really doesn’t require any further aging to be enjoyable. Nice!
(92 pts.)Posted from > CellarTracker
Since the Kisi was so impressive, we commented on its outstanding quality to Jane Okruashvili. She seemed to take pleasure in what she heard and explained that the wine was actually not an Okro’s wines per se, but instead a wine she made herself under the Sister’s Wines label.
After the visit to the winery we headed back to the hotel, where our lift to the town of Lagodekhi was waiting.
It was only during the trip to Lagodekhi I understood how vast the viticultural region of Kakheti was. The valley didn’t feel so vast from the hilltop town of Sighnaghi, but after descending zig-zagging roads for almost 400 vertical meters (1200 feet) to the village of Sakobo lying at the foot of the mountain right beneath Sighnaghi, the proportions started to hit me. It was mainly one straight road from there to Lagodekhi, yet it took some 45 minutes to get to the other side of the valley. The width of the valley turned out to be some 40 km (25 miles), but it seemed like less than half of that. I guess the Caucasus mountains might have something to do with the false impression, since right across the valley they rise up to the height of +3,000 m (~10,000 ft), but from afar and high up they seemed smaller and much closer than in reality, I guess? At least it really did feel like that when we sped towards Lagodekhi and the mountains just didn’t appear to come any closer.
Lagodekhi isn’t really a touristy town; it is just a small, rural village right on the Georgian side of the Azerbaijan border. We didn’t go to Lagodekhi after wine or food, but instead the natural reserve the village is known for, it being the oldest in Georgia. After we had settled in our lodging - a small guest house run by an elderly Russian couple - we went to walk around the village. Aside from the spectacular Caucasus mountains that loomed over the city, there was really nothing to see in Lagodekhi. We made our way to one of the two or three restaurants in the village and ordered a dinner.
The menu had only two wines: “Saperavi” and “Rkatsiteli”. Saperavi was 6 GEL (2€ or $2.5) and Rkatsiteli was 4 GEL (1.3€ or $1.5). We settled for Rkatsiteli and got a jug filled with orange wine. It tasted quite natural - even very slightly mousy in the aftertaste - and quite simple, but it managed to go nicely with the rich food with its savory flavors and bright acidity.
Fried eggplant.
Lobio aka. bean stew.
Megruli khachapuri.
Lamb kebabi.
All this was cost us 30 GEL (10€ or $12), tips included.
After the dinner we went to the local grocery store to buy some food supplies for our next day’s trip to the nature reserve on the mountains.
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Thanks for the detailed notes. We’ve been considering this trip. A friend runs some photo tours, and he just added Georgia & Armenia. Would probably have gone this year except it overlaps the Chicago Marathon. We may go with him next year.
Here is a link to his tour:
Someone on Facebook just posted this from National Geographic
Steve and Otto: thanks a lot for the additional suggestion about Iago and Gotsa.
Day 5 - Lagodekhi.
For this day we had no other plans than just to hike to the Rocho waterfall located in the hills of Caucasus mountains, within the Lagodekhi natural park.
For breakfast our Russian hosts filled our table with a generous set of potato salad, omelette, tkemali (sour plum sauce), fruits, bread, eggplant and so forth, and to drink - a liter of home-made Saperavi and, of course, a plastic Coke bottle filled with home-made chacha.
After the breakfast our host showed us where he makes his wine. In his garage, of course! There was a large steel drum (probably 500-700 liters) that was covered with a plastic blanket held in place with a thick rubber band. He took the plastic blanket off, revealing the contents of the drum: it was half-filled with pitch-black, fermenting grape must. Picking a large rake-looking wooden stick, he proceeded to perform some punch-downs. This must be how basically every family in the countryside is making their own wine. I apologize for not taking any pictures of his very artisanal production facilities. 
After showing us his vinous treasure, our host drove us the 2-3 km to the entrance of the Lagodekhi nature reserve.
From there it took us some two hours walking in dense, untouched forests, stony riverbed and ridiculously steep hills. The base of the hike was located at 400 m a.s.l. and the waterfall at about 1000 m a.s.l., so while the hike to the waterfall was only 5 km (3 miles), the ascent is about 600 m (2000 ft), which makes the trip challenging enough to feel like you’ve achieved something when you finally reach the waterfall.
A one-eared pooch joined us when we left from the park entrance into the woods and guided us through the first part. Whenever we stopped to do something (take pictures, etc.) this dog just turned and waited for us, staring us like “why are you slowing down all the time?”
And there she is finally waiting, the Rocho waterfall!
After we had wondered around the waterfall (catching our breaths) we turned around and headed back tracing our steps.
Fortunately the descent was (for the most part) easier than the ascent. I also found some discarded kvevris on our way out.
This is where we just came from (and this is how most of Lagodekhi looks like):
We had no other plans for the day, so when we finally got back to our guesthouse, we took a small nap and had a ridiculously huge dinner in the evening. Seriously, you could incapacitate four fully grown men with this much food!
Sorry for the lack of vinous things in this update. My next one is going to be more about wine again, I promise!
Your dinner looks remarkably similar to breakfast! What was the saperavi like? Drinkable? Good?
That might be just the setting! Apart from the drinks and the sausage, there were no same foodstuffs in the evening. The omelette was the only warm dish in the morning, while almost all dishes were warm over the dinner.
What was the saperavi like? Drinkable? Good?
Drinkable, yes. Good - well, maybe. (Most likely you Steve know all this, but for the rest of the forum people) basically all the home-made wines there are natural wines, since that’s the way the wines have always been made in there. No commercial yeasts, no sulfites, nothing. Just crush the grapes and you’ll get what you get.
The wine made by this old Russian fellow was perfectly drinkable as a food wine, since it was quite light-bodied yet pretty intensely flavored with bright, high acidity. For a Saperavi, there was surprisingly little in the way of tannins, but when it comes to tese wines made by your average Joe, most likely the grapes aren’t farmed quality in mind. It felt like the grapes came from higher-yielding flatlands with relatively low level of alcohol (and Saperavi doesn’t seem to be capable of reaching high alcohol levels even when fully ripe) and probably made from grapes harvested pretty early. Stylistically it felt something akin to an inexpensive Barbera: dry, light-bodied and high in acidity with impenetrable dark color and tons of crunchy dark forest fruits. If you drank it by itself, you could taste a slightest touch of mousiness starting to creep in over the aftertaste, but you really didn’t notice anything when drinking the wine with food. And after all, it was a simple table wine meant to be gulped in copious amounts over food, not to be analyzed meticulously in a tasting environment. I must say, I’ve had a lot worse (inexpeensive) commercially made wines.
Understood, but it was also drinks too that made the pictures look visually similar. I must say I never encountered booze on the breakfast table in Georgia, but having a shot of chacha to set you up for the day does seem entirely in keeping with Georgian drinking.
Thanks Otto. In terms of drinkability and quality, that is very much in line with my experience. My overall conclusion on those homemade wines was that they were a more attractive option than the commercial alternatives in normal Georgian restaurants. If nothing else, they were interesting.
There seems to be very little written about these wines, and “expert” comment is usually dismissive, and seen as an opportunity to sell consulting services to replace them by “proper” commercial wines. I think they deserve more respect. Of course they are never going to get much international intention if they are not bottled, but they are important culturally and in being a precursor to the likes of Pheasant’s Tears.
Géorgie Kakhetie Okro’s wines Sister’s wines Kisi 2017 : 16,5/20 – 26/11/2021
Macération de 6 mois (avec rafles ?). Expressivité de la macération, nette (volatile raisonnable), zestée (citron vert), terreuse. Acidité marquée pour cette réalisation intransigeante, puissante, dotée de jolis amers qui prolongent idéalement le vin.