2023 Baia's Wine Qvevri Tsolikouri Georgia

Winemaker Notes:  On the nose,  honey, citrus, cider. In the mouth. crisp & bright. A vineyard selection of Tsolikouri by young woman winemaker Baia Abuladze, her sister Gvantsa, and her brother Giorgi. The west of Georgia is very humid. Accordingly, its indigenous varieties all tend to have higher acidity to survive the climate. Tsolikouri is the most-planted grape in the western region of Imereti and the single grape of which Baia has planted the most. All the fruit is estate-grown in the village of Obcha, hand picked, and hand sorted. After destemming, the wine is pressed and put into qvevri with partial skin contact and fermentation starts spontaneously.

Baia Abuladze is a young woman, who together with her sister Gvanca Abuladze and their family in Obcha, Imereti in the west of Georgia, are bringing new life and energy to a region with a storied history but whose winemaking traditions had suffered greatly during communist times. Baia began studying viticulture and winemaking studying from her grandfather as a little girl. Starting in 2015 Baia, who was then 22 years old decided to take bring new life to the estate and family wine cellar. With the help of some woman winemaker specific grants she procured the necessary tools to bottle their first vintage in 2015 comprising of 5,000 bottles. Over the years Baia and Gvanca have been making unique woman made wines with a purpose of preserving and being a part of the 8,000yr tradition.