The question popped up on this forum the other day, “Why Wine”. I don’t believe I answered it with this response, but in hindsight, one reason is the ability for a taste of wine to take you back to a specific moment in time.
In late summer 2018, in anticipation of repatriating back to the US after 4 years living in Stockholm, my wife, our 9 month old and I took a long trip through Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Bulgaria. In Georgia, we started in the NW hiking in the Caucasus Mountains, before driving through the country to the SE wine lands, where we stayed in Sighnaghi, a town literally founded for wine tourism.
While there, one planned highlight was a dinner at the famous Pheasant’s Tears to celebrate my birthday. However, the day before, we were saddened to see a note on the door stating the restaurant was closed until the day after our reservation.
Saddened, my wife called and we were told to just come anyway. We were seated on a raised dining area as they prepared for a staff party to celebrate reopening below us, and we’re treated to a never ending parade of foods and wines.
On the last course before dessert, they brought us a bottle of 2008 Saperavi that had been kept on its skins, stems, etc. in qvevri for 8 years. We drank it and took in the seen as the rain poured outside and the staff played guitars and sang while eating and drinking below us. One of this incredible unique experiences you never forget.
As we prepared to leave, we jokingly asked if we could take a bottle of that wine with us (knowing they had very few bottles left), and given the festive was of the moment, were gifted one, with the vintage and grape hand written on it.
Tonight we cooked traditional Adjarian Khachapuri with imeruli and sulguni cheese and poppers open the bottle to relive a wonderful memory.
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2008 Pheasant’s Tears Saperavi - Georgia, Kakheti (7/11/2020)
2008 Saperavi experimental, kept on the skins in qvevri for 8 years before bottling. Purchased at the restaurant in Sighnaghi in August 2018. Decanted for 2 hours.
Color is a beautiful dark purple with crimson edges. No browning or other age showing. Nose has a reductive note you get in a lot of Georgian wines, as well as very dark blackberry and dark red berries. A bit of cedar and lead as well. Absolutely gorgeous spell.
On the tongue, it feels medium bodied. It has a bit of Brett, not disimilar to Musar, but has a very strong acid backbone very common in Saperavi wines. Has sour cherry and more blackberry as well as a bit of minerality and “woodsy-ness”. It finished very very dry.
A very nice wine for my flavor profile, made all the better by my memory of purchasing the bottle.
Posted from CellarTracker