2018 Gevelli Vineyards Saperavi Zvari Reserve

Community Tasting Notes (1) Avg Score: 89 points

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  10/1/2022 - forceberry wrote: 89 Points

  100% Saperavi from Tsinandali. First the fruit is crushed and then fermented and macerated on the skins slowly in earthenware kvevris for 6 months, then racked into new French oak barrels. Aged for 12 months in oak. 13% alcohol. Bottle #2496 of total 4000 bottles. Tasted blind.
  
  Youthful and quite inky, only slightly translucent blackish-red color. The nose feels youthful, fragrant and somewhat sweet-toned with aromas of juicy dark berries and sunny dark fruits, some inky tones, a little bit of sweet oak spice, light crunchy notes of fresh forest fruits, a hint of vanilla, a touch of something vaguely funky and a whiff of blueberry jam. The wine is dry, firm and quite textural on the palate with a full body and quite intense, youthful flavors of crunchy chokeberries and brambly blackberries, some vanilla tones, a little bit of tart lingonberry, light toasty nuances of mocha oak, a hint of inky character and a touch of juicy bilberry. The overall feel is firm and moderately structured with the rather high acidity and balanced, silky medium-plus tannins. The finish is juicy, firm and quite long with flavors of ripe forest fruits, some vanilla notes of oak, a little bit of fresh bilberry, light tart notes of lingonberries, a ferrous hint of blood and a touch of toasty mocha oak.
  
  A firm and enjoyably balanced effort for a relatively modern take on Saperavi. I love traditional kvevri Saperavis, but haven't been a big fan of modern, oaked Saperavis - they've been all too often just too soft and anonymous for my taste. Although this wine comes across as a bit polished and round for a Saperavi, not showing that much sense of place, the wine still manages to retain good sense of finesse and varietal character. I'd say the wine is just too youthful at the moment, having somewhat sweet-toned primary fruit, oak tones and some of that soft baby fat a bit too much to the fore, but fortunately showing good potential for future development. A pleasant and enjoyably serious effort for a modernist Saperavi.

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