Marks & Spencer has some interesting wines now and I couldn’t resist trying their Tbilvino Rkatsiteli Qvevris, from Kakheti in Georgia.
Long ago in the original Vinopolis you started in the ancient wine section where there was a video narrated by Hugh Johnson about how wine was made in ancient times, and that method was still used in Georgia.
Video showed peasants picking grapes from pergolas around their garden and treading them in a hollowed out tree trunk, then juice skins and all was poured into large clay amphorae ‘qvevris’ buried up to their necks in the ground. The pots were closed with a lid and sealed with wet clay and left.
The following year they were opened and the wine – cloudy and with bits in it – was scooped out and consumed with great noise and enjoyment in tumblers at a family celebratory feast.
I’ve wondered for years what that natural wine tasted like….
Well, the M&S offering had been midwived by a M&S winemaker and was bright and clear, no bits, no sediment and a beautiful golden amber colour.
Just 11.5% abv, it smelled like sherry and tasted like a mild sherry, but not much flavour otherwise. After a while it smelled faintly like freshly baked bread.
It wasn’t to mine, or Mrs M’s taste. We could have done with more acidity, but an interesting wine and one I am very glad to have had the opportunity to taste.
The back label – which uses the descriptor ‘unique’ three times – says this wine was fermented on the skins and then partially matured in qvevris. However the front label – with another unique -- says that the grapes and skins were fermented together underground in the qvevris for several months.
Looking at the M&S website I see they have a red Qvevris made from Saperavi – it was a red in the Vinopolis video – so if I see that in a M&S shop I must give that a go.