What is qvevri wine?
A qvevri is a large egg-shaped clay vessel buried in the cellar floor. Grapes ferment inside it: usually with their skins and stems, for weeks or months, at the steady temperature the surrounding earth provides. It is the oldest winemaking method still in continuous use anywhere, and UNESCO listed it as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013.
What is amber wine? Is it the same as orange wine?
Yes, broadly. Amber wine is white grapes fermented in contact with their skins, which gives colour, tannin and texture you would normally associate with red wine. "Orange wine" is the term the modern natural-wine scene uses; "amber" is what Georgians have always called it, and they have a few thousand years' head start on the naming.
What does Saperavi taste like?
Deep, dark and structured. Saperavi is a teinturier grape: the flesh is red as well as the skin, so the wines are almost opaque. Expect black fruit, firm acidity and real tannin. It ages well and it wants food.
Is Georgian semi-sweet red any good?
Kindzmarauli and Khvanchkara are protected appellations, not a marketing exercise. The sweetness comes from stopping fermentation early, not from adding sugar, and the underlying Saperavi keeps enough tannin and acidity that the wine reads as rich rather than sugary. Serve it cool, and try it with blue cheese or anything chocolate.
What is chacha?
Georgia's grape spirit, distilled from the pomace left after pressing: the same idea as Italian grappa or French marc. Usually 40%+ and traditionally drunk at the end of a supra, the Georgian feast.
Do I need to be home for delivery?
Yes: someone aged 18 or over must sign for it. We operate Challenge 25, so bring ID if you look under 25. See Shipping & Delivery.
Do you ship outside the UK?
Not currently. Post-Brexit, wine and spirits are excluded from the IOSS scheme, which makes EU consumer shipping disproportionately complicated. See Shipping & Delivery for the detail.
How should I store these wines?
Somewhere cool, dark and reasonably stable, bottles on their side if they are corked. Qvevri wines with heavy skin contact are more robust than most, but nothing enjoys a warm kitchen.