K'Avshiri

K'AVSHIRI is the work of Robert Joseph, the British wine writer and author of more than twenty-five books, and Vladimer Kublashvili, an experienced wine judge and chief winemaker at Winery Khareba. It took five years to make.

The idea goes back to 1988, when Joseph first visited Georgia while it was still part of the Soviet Union and found a country whose history, language, architecture and wines were unlike anything he knew. He returned repeatedly, and in 2018 the project began in earnest. The name means alliance or union in Georgian, which is the point: these are blends drawn across Georgia's regions and its native varieties rather than single-vineyard statements.

Both wines bring together grapes most drinkers will never have encountered. The white takes in Rkatsiteli, Mtsvane, Krakhuna, Tsitska and Tsolikouri; the red is led by Saperavi with Ojaleshi, Aleksandrouli, Otskhanuri Sapere and Aladasturi. Georgia has around 500 indigenous varieties, and this is an argument for using them together.