Satrapezo Saperavi

Selected block, SAPERAVI S01, of Kondoli vineyards has been green harvested during the first days of véraison (August) in order to artificially reduce the grape yield down to 4-5 tons per hectare and thus increase the overall quality and concentration of remaining fruit. At the end of September grapes were hand harvested in small boxes, hand sorted in our winery, gently de-stemmed and lightly crushed into historical Georgian clay wine vessels called Qvevri, buried in the winery’s earthen floor. The fermentation was performed by natural yeast, found on grape skins. During the whole process of fermentation, which has been held naturally maximum at 26°C, cap management has been performed only by hand punching, thus overall mechanical impact on grape skins has been minimized, ensuring soft extraction of color and tannins from the grape skin. After the long, around 6 months of maceration in Qvevri, the wine was decanted and transferred gently into traditional new oak barriques for 24 months further maturation. The wine was bottled unfiltered, complemented by 6 months bottle aging in our cellar before the release.