Tibaneli Single Estate Kindzmarauli 2008

Kakheti, Georgia
$20-23 +670539 available at BC Liquor Stores
www.tibaneli.com

CHECK goes another grape on my list. I’m a card-carrying member of the Wine Century Club – open to anyone who has tried 100 or more grape varieties. This red wine is 100% Saperavi, a grape native to Georgia. The name translates as ‘dyer’ or ‘pigment’, perhaps due to the fact that not only the skin of this grape is red, but also the flesh inside. In Georgia, it is mostly grown in the Kakheti region, at high elevation, and shielded from frigid Russian winds by the Caucasus Mountains. Not only a new wine grape (to me) but a whole new wine country! Don’t think for a minute however that Georgia is new to the wine game. New archaeological evidence is leading some to believe that wine originated in Georgia over 8000 years ago, before spreading to Africa and across to Mediterranean and Europe.

Ok – so new grape, new country – and now – a new style. Through Saperavi is generally made into a dry table wine, the Kindzmarauli is semi-sweet, crafted from late harvested grapes that balance out Saperavi’s inherently high acid. Aromas of chokecherry, cranberry, redcurrant and sweet spice start us off. The wine is surprisingly dry for a sweetness code of 04, with the acid holding that late harvest residual sugar in check. Flavours of sour cherry, deep black cherry, pomegranate and walnuts mingle on the medium bodied palate, and finish with a lingering bittersweet cocoa finish. I would pair this with fresh walnuts, hazelnuts and aged cheeses – it would make a great bridge between your dinner red and your fire-sipping port.

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Tibaneli Single Estate Kindzmarauli 2008

This red wine is 100% Saperavi, a grape native to Georgia, and here vinified into a semi-sweet table wine. Flavours of sour cherry, deep black cherry, pomegranate and walnuts mingle on the medium bodied palate, and finish with a lingering bittersweet cocoa finish. I would pair this with fresh walnuts, hazelnuts and aged cheeses – it would make a great bridge between your dinner red and your fire-sipping port.