One of the best red wines on earth may be one you’ve never tasted: Saperavi (pronouced ‘saw pear ah vee’). Ancient in origin, dating back toward the very origins of wine-making, thousands of years before any of the famed European varieties, this remarkable grape produces red wines that rank among the most delicious on the planet!
Saperavi is THE most popular and cherished red in the Country of Georgia, where it originated as wild and became cultured over many thousands of years. Georgia’s vineyards lie near the 42nd parallel, along the same latitude as Northern California/Southern Oregon, Spain, Southern France and Italy. Georgian Saperavi is grown in great soils and benefits from near-ideal climate within Georgia’s stunning deep valleys, experiencing optimum temperatures, moisture, slopes/drainage, sun exposure and season duration.
Saperavi has all 4 essential properties required to produce great red wine:
- It accumulates sufficient sugar to deliver wines from 10-16.5% alcohol by volume;
- Acidity by titration can range from 5.5 to 13 g/L (even at its maturity peak);
- It has extremely well expressed color and tannin structure, ideal for skilled wine making;
- It presents ‘almost perfect’ varietal aroma expression which heavily reacts to its cultivation.
The Saperavi grape is unique and truly distinctive: Particularly noteworthy, Saperavi is among very few grapes in the world that have both dark skin and red flesh, known as teinturier.
Georgia’s Saperavi wines are produced by world class winemakers using both ancient [UNESCO Heritage honored) methods in traditional qvevri subterranean clay vessels and modern techniques using state of the art facilities and knowledge, with fermentation in stainless steel tanks, oak vats and concrete vessels of all shapes and with oak maturation as desired. While most Saperavi wines are deep red and bold, the amount and duration of skin contact and production method is varied by the winemaker to result in a spectrum that spans from rose, through ‘light and fresh’ and ‘moderate’, to bold and intense, the latter so deeply dark some also call it ‘black wine’.
Ghvinos’ offers a full spectrum of Saperavi. Take a browse through our online shop (www.ghvinos.com) and find those that match your desire; You’ll find helpful descriptoi alongside each wine. Even simpler, the graphic shown at the top of this blog shows where where each Saperavi in our store lies along the spectrum. If you need more help deciding, we’re ready. Whether you are new to Saperavi or know it well, we’ll gladly help you find what’s just right for you.