Nino's Mgaloblishvili, 2019

Alcohol:12% Bottle size: 75cl Age of vines: 8 years The grapes are destemmed and spend nine days on skins in qvevri. The wine is naturally made. It is such a pretty wine, almost rosé in colour with appealing aromas of flowers, red fruits and pepper. Mgaloblishvili is an old red grape variety indigenous to Imereti. Its name – “Mgaloblishvili” is connected to the famous 19th century Georgian ampelographer with the same surname. Throughout the 19th century and till halfway through the 20th, the Mgaloblishvili vine was one of the most widespread varieties in Imereti region, but soon fell out of favour. Archil and the older generation of vignerons, however, always remembered the high quality of this variety and a few years ago he decided to re-establish this vine. After a lengthy search he found it in a state nursery, took cuttings, and replanted it in his vineyard. Now he has 700 plants yielding grapes – and a further 300 about to come on stream.