With a history dating back over 8,000 years, Georgia is often considered the birthplace of wine, with its rich heritage influencing the winemaking practices seen today. It is home to over 500 grape varieties, many indigenous to the region and found nowhere else in the world.
In this tasting you will experience a curation by long-standing friend of the Society Richard Bampfield MW, selected to demonstrate both the quality and diversity of Georgian wines through showcasing its breadth of styles, terroir and indigenous grapes. These will range from crisp, vibrant whites like Rkatsiteli and Mtsvane to the bold, full-bodied reds such as Saperavi, and from wines made using the more familiar technique of stainless-steel fermentation to those fermented and aged in qvevri (traditional clay vessels).
The tasting is made possible by Mako Abashidze, co-owner of 80-20 Wines in Peckham and Hackney, from whom all the evening’s wines are sourced. Mako will speak to the history and traditions of Georgian wine and will contribute 80-20’s own brand of “Georgian tapas”; a selection of the usually robustly proportioned (and delicious) food of Georgia, served in a more bitesize form designed to accompany the wines. This will include khachapuri, the delicious boat-shaped Georgia cheese-filled bread considered by many to be the national dish.
The ten wines to be tasted are:
Dakishvili Family 'The Fox' Pet. Nat. Kisi 2021
Pirveli Winery Khikhvi 2022 white dry, stainless steel fermented
Pirveli Winery Khikhvi 2022 amber dry, Qvevri Fermented
Seroba Winery Tsinandali 2018, white dry, Rkatsiteli & Mtsvane, Stainless Steel Fermented, Aged in Oak
Chateau Kinkladze Winery Rkatsiteli 2021, amber dry, Qvevri Fermented
Bugeuli Winery Saperavi 2022, red dry, Stainless Steel Fermented)
Seroba Winery Saperavi 2019, red dry, Stainless Steel Fermented, Aged in Oak
Barbale Winery Budeshuri 2022, red dry Qvevri Fermented, Long Skin Maceration
Chini Winery Tetra, Medium-Sweet White, 2019
Bugeuli Alazani Medium-Sweet red 2019 Aleksandreuli, Mujuretuli & Saperavi
Tickets for this tasting are priced at £55 for members and £60 for guests. If you are using the Society's website to purchase tickets for the first time, you are encouraged to register so as to make future ticket purchases even easier.
The Society operates an open seating policy at tastings, so if you are coming as a group, please arrive early to ensure you are able to sit together. And do please note the slightly further west location of this tasting and build this into your travel plans. We’ve generously been provided the use of this location by our host, Mako, it being a venue which also plays host to the British Georgian Chamber of Commerce. This contributes to what we hope you will agree is the excellent value proposition for this rather plentiful evening of wine and food.
Due to capacity constraints on the venue, we have only 46 tickets available for sale, so you may need to move quickly to secure your spot. Further, to ensure fair access to all members, we are initially limiting ticket purchases to one guest per member. Note that we do not have capacity within our ticketing system to automatically enforce this restriction, so we are relying on the good faith of our membership in this regard. If after this initial period tickets remain available, we will make a further announcement to all members that additional guest tickets may be purchased.
If you have any questions, please contact the organiser, Joe Fallon, on joe.fallon@icenrisk.com.