Mtsvane Amber Zurab Topuridze 2024

Mtsvane Amber Zurab Topuridze, classic, delicious, orange wine from Georgia, 36 mg/L sulphur, this is natural wine par excellence from our fave from this famous orangey hued wine producing nation, Zurab Topuridze.  His wines are lighter than normal, not in flavour but in tannin and density.  They dance on the tongue rather than dry out the back of the palate.  This one has 5 months on the skins but not with too much mixing around so although the colour is denser than some of his other macerations, the Amber is still on the gentler side.  Lightly spicey, nice acidity and freshness, serve chilled over the summer, superb.

Zurab has been involved in vineyard farming and making natural wines since his childhood when he used to help his grandad. He was only 13 years old when he made his first natural wine on his own.

Today his winery is in the village of Dablatsikhe (English translation 'Lower Castle'), in the western part of Georgia, bordered by the Black Sea with subtropical coastal lowlands to the west and the mountains to the east. The region is famous for its polyphonic music, humorous people, and used to be well known for its delicious rose-hued wines.

When Zurab got married, he bought a small house in the village and sufficient land for viticulture. He makes natural wines in underground qvevris with a total capacity of around 13 tonnes (22 terracotta vessels in total). The vineyard itself is only four hectares, planted on the terraced slopes of the River Supsa valley, on reddish-brown clay soils with lots of magnesium and iron content.

His wines are absolutely charming.  The red is a very light example of the often hard work Saperavi grape.  The white/skin contact wines are completely drinkable examples of this style, again, lightness of touch characterises the wines.  These are Georgian wines for any occasion with any food and are both interesting and delicious to drink.