Marani Kondoli Vineyards Sami

Selected blocks of Saperavi, Alexandreuli and Merlot of Kondoli vineyards have been green harvested during the first days of véraison (August) in order to artificially reduce grape yield down to 7 tons per hectare and thus increase the overall quality and concentration of remaining fruit. By end of September all three grape varieties - Saperavi, Alexandreuli and Merlot (hence the name of the wine SAMI, meaning ‘three’ in Georgian) were hand harvested in small boxes, hand sorted in our winery, then gently de-stemmed and crushed for further fermentation in an open lid 225l French oak barrels. During the whole process of fermentation cap management was performed only by hand punching, thus overall mechanical impact on grape skins has been minimized and ensured soft extraction of tannins and coloring elements. After the 20 day long maceration, wine was transferred to closed oak barriques for malolactic fermentation and aging for 12 months. Coarse filtration complemented by bottling and further maturation in our cellar before the release.