Bedoba Saperavi 2023
£14.75
The wine
Saperavi is Georgia’s great red grape, dark-skinned and red-fleshed, and Bedoba’s is a wonderful introduction to it. From old vines in Kakheti, part-fermented in traditional qvevri amphorae and aged across steel, wood and oak.
Deep purple and powerful, it opens with a savoury, spicy bouquet of blackberry, mountain herbs, violets and cracked black pepper, the palate creamy and juicy with ripe tannins and fresh acidity. A characterful, warming red. A natural with roast lamb, grilled meats, wild mushrooms and aged cheese.
The producer
Bedoba
View all Bedoba winesGeorgia is the cradle of wine, with eight thousand years of unbroken winemaking, and Bedoba carries that heritage proudly. Its name means “day of luck”, and the wines come from Kakheti, the country’s historic heartland, where cellars on the estate date back to 1737.
The focus is Saperavi, Georgia’s great indigenous red, grown on old vines in the Kvareli and Kindzmarauli appellations along the Duruji valley. Black-shale soils and the cool slopes of the Caucasus lend the wines their fresh acidity and supple tannins.
Winemakers Nugzar Ksovreli and Thierry Fontannaz marry the ancient and the modern, fermenting in traditional qvevri amphorae alongside stainless steel and oak. The range spans a deep, spicy Saperavi, an old-vine Reserve, and a textural amber wine from Rkatsiteli and Kisi.
Authentic, characterful and quietly thrilling, these are wines that tell the story of the world’s oldest wine culture.
