Samtavisi
Samtavisi is an ancient village of the Kartli region of Eastern Georgia. This idyllic town has views of the Mtkvari River Valley to the east, and is graced by cool breezes from the Trialeti mountain range towards the South and the High Caucasus to the north. In the late 19th century, French viticulturists were invited by local noblemen to select the best regions to grow vines and nicknamed the area “chamants”, meaning charming. In 2007 Tbilisi-based artists Mamuka Kikvadze and Lako Teneishvili bought a patch of this charm, complete with a historic home, and a small vineyard of Chinuri- a grape native to the region and only served to kings in medieval times. The land is rich in clay, limestone and red granite. Kikvadze grew up helping his grandfather make wine in Guria, West Georgia, and was a disciple of Soliko Tsaishvili- a key figure in Georgia’s natural wine renaissance. Kikvadze is partial to Gurian kveri (also spelled qveri, large clay based vessels for fermenting and ageing wine). He insists kveri from his homeland imparts a different flavor than kveri made in other regions. Otherwise, he takes an extremely hands off approach to wine making, no chemical intervention, only the barest minimum of copper and sulfur treatments, and the wines are bottled unfiltered. He sees himself as more of a grape cultivator than anything else and lets the grapes speak for themselves. He currently grows four native Kartli varieties - Chinuri, Goruli Mtsvane, Shavkapito and Buza.We currently carry two of his wines! The 2024 Samtavisi Marani Chinuri is a beautifully silky and nutty white with some stone fruit freshness and a subtly herbaceous edge. The barest hint of effervescence dances on the tongue making for a fun yet elegant wine, perfect for lunch, dinner, or even a picnic in the park.
The 2024 Samtavisi Marani Chinuri Shavkapito lives somewhere between a light chillable red and a darker rosato, bright cherry liqueur blanched out by fruit blossoms and dried strawberry flavors. All that fruit is backed by a slight earthyness, some black pepper and a whisper of tannin. This is a wine that’s invited to the barbeque- fresh and vibrant enough for the heat but enough structure to stand up to a smokey rack of ribs.
