The Grapes of Two Georgias... Comparing Wines from Both the Country and the State of Georgia

A good glass of wine can be like magic. When it's consumed in moderation, wine can enhance everything from food to relationships. Stored properly, many wines improve with age, becoming as rich and flavorful as their ancient legacy. Wine has been made from fermented fruit for thousands of years; it's a beverage that is written of prominently in the Bible. A large part of wine's history can be traced to the fertile land of Georgia... that is, the country of Georgia, not the state.

Most every American has heard of the state of Georgia, but not as many Americans know about the country of Georgia, a small country located in the Transcaucasus region of the former Soviet Union. Georgia is an ancient country, having been established as early as the 5th millenium BC. But for 69 years, it was one of fifteen republics of the former Soviet Union, where it was effectively closed off from the western world until 1991, when the Soviet Union dissolved.

The original Georgia...

Bill and I have, on separate occasions, had the pleasure of visiting the "original Georgia". I went there in the summer of 1996, when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Armenia, Georgia's southern neighbor. A friend and I took a bus from Yerevan, Armenia to Istanbul, Turkey. Since Turkey and Armenia are not on good diplomatic terms, it was necessary for us to pass through the Republic of Georgia to get from Armenia to Turkey. As we passed through Georgia on the way to Istanbul, my friend and I marveled at how beautiful it was with its ancient castles and churches, majestic mountains, and rushing rivers. We also knew about Georgia's excellent wines, having lived in Armenia, where the wines are also outstanding.

Bill spent two weeks in Georgia in the fall of 2008 on business. At that time, we were living in Germany and enjoying wonderful wines from all over Europe. Before he left to go to Georgia's capital of Tbilisi, I told Bill to be sure to try some of Georgia's excellent wine. And, if possible, I hoped he would bring home a couple of bottles for us to enjoy. Despite Germany's relative proximity to Georgia compared to the United States', we were not able to easily find Georgian wines there. Despite their excellence and affordability, wines from Georgia and Armenia are not yet being imported worldwide the way wines from countries like France, Italy, Chile, and Australia are. Since I knew about Georgian wines and Bill has become a budding oenophile, I wanted him to be able to try wine from one of the richest wine regions in the world.

Indeed, Bill brought home two bottles of wonderful Georgian red wine. He spent about $8 for each, though after tasting them, I would have expected them to be much more expensive. Several months later, we went to Vinopolis, a museum in London that celebrates alcoholic beverages of all kinds. At Vinopolis, patrons can purchase tickets allowing them to taste wines and other alcoholic beverages from all over the world. There was a wonderful exhibit there dedicated to Georgia; alas, there were no wines there for us to taste. Apparently, England hasn't had much luck importing Georgia's wonderful wines, either.

The American Georgia...

Fast forward a couple of years. Bill and I are now living in the state of Georgia. Located in the Deep South of the United States, the state of Georgia is known for its peaches, southern accents, hot weather, and the big city of Atlanta. The state of Georgia is also known as a place where wines are made. Georgia wine country is predominantly situated in the northeastern part of the state, though there are vinyards and wineries all over Georgia.

Wine tourism has become popular in the state of Georgia. Not only are there a lot of people making and selling wines in Georgia, there are also many places where a wine lover can spend a night or two at a vinyard, getting to know its products intimately and perhaps taking home a bottle or two to enjoy.

Wineries in the state of Georgia produce reds, whites, and sparkling varieties of table wine.

The big idea to compare Georgian wines

Since Bill and I are both wine lovers and we've now had experience with both Georgias, we decided it might be fun to have a little taste test. I came up with this idea back in January of 2010, as Bill and I were traveling to Tennessee and noticed billboards for Georgia's wine industry, inviting us to take a tour of a vinyard or spend the night at a bed & breakfast associated with a winery. It occurred to me that it might be fun to get bottles of wine from both the state and the country of Georgia, compare and contrast them, and then write an article.

Bill loved my idea, but we both knew it would be hard to do, mainly because at this writing, not many retailers near us sell wine from the country of Georgia. When we lived in the Washington, DC area a few years ago, I had been successful in finding a couple of Georgian wines at our local Whole Foods. But none of the Whole Foods in Atlanta, Georgia had any Georgian wine. When we inquired about Georgian wine at our favorite liquor store, we were told that there weren't any distributors nearby. However, both the wine manager at the Atlanta area Whole Foods and our liquor store promised they'd look into getting some and give us a call when they found a source.

Georgian wine jackpot in North Carolina

Bill and I got lucky last weekend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. We were on our way to Virginia to take care of some family business and stopped in Chapel Hill for the night. My sister lives in Chapel Hill, so I already knew about A Southern Season, a wonderful gourmet store located there. We stopped at A Southern Season before we got back on the road and took a look at their wine selection. Scanning the wine store, we saw wines grouped neatly by country: France, Greece, Spain, South Africa, Australia, Italy, Germany... and then-- jackpot!-- a section called "everywhere else". There, we found a small cache of several different wines from the country of Georgia, as well as other exotic locales such Israel, Hungary, and yes, Armenia. We were delighted to be able to purchase several bottles of Georgian wine to bring back with us to the state of Georgia. Each bottle was originally priced at $14 for .75 liters, but were on sale for $11.89.

Buying a bottle of Georgia Wine Country wine...

I never expected to have any trouble buying a bottle of wine from the state of Georgia within the state of Georgia. I knew there were a number of different wineries all over the state of Georgia and I figured they would be eager to sell their wares at grocery stores and liquor outlets statewide. However, Bill informed me that he hadn't been able to find any Georgia state wine at our local Publix and he had slim hopes that we would find any at our favorite liquor store. Oddly enough, it's easier to find wine from North Carolina in our local grocery store than it is to find wine from Georgia.

As it turned out, we did manage to acquire a bottle of Georgia state wine at the liquor store, but we had to look hard to find it and there wasn't much of a selection. Several bottles were described as "sweet" wines, which neither Bill nor I like very much. We finally settled on a bottle of wine that was described as "dry" and priced at about $10.

Head to head comparison

From the country of Georgia, we have a bottle of 2006 Saperavi, produced by Kakheti Bellar Wine. Its label describes it as "the natural Georgian grape dry red wine". It has an alcohol content ranging from 10.5-12% by volume. Many wines produced in Europe are labeled by the place they came from rather than a brand name. In keeping with that custom, am going to refer to this wine as the Saperavi.

On the back label, the Saperavi is described as

"a table[sic] red wine made from the Saperavi grape variety grown in some areas of Kakheti. It is an attractive wine with a characteristic bouquet, a harmonious taste and pleasant astringency. It has been produced since 1886. At international exhibitions, 'Saperavi' received Gold medals."

To the right of this description, three gold medals from "World Food" in Moscow are listed for the years 1998, 2000, and 2002. In Georgian, the word Saperavi literally means "paint" or "dye". The wine is so named because of its intense red color.

From the state of Georgia, we have a bottle of Habersham Scarlett. There is no year notated on the bottle. It was produced and bottled by Habersham Vineyards in Helen, Georgia. It contains 12.5% alcohol by volume. There is no other information provided, which makes me think this is going to be a very interesting experiment.

Both bottles were allowed to aerate for approximately 30 minutes before our first taste.

The pours

The Saperavi pours out rich, almost opaque, and dark red. When we held it in natural light, it looked like it had almost an orange tint to it. There are no bubbles at the end of the pour and when I swish it around in the glass, I see long legs, indicating a moderate alcohol content. When I hold this wine against a slip of white paper, I see a slightly clear outline emerging from the edge of the red wine, indicating that this wine has some age. In the glass, the Saperavi looks almost like a ruby port.

The Habersham also pours out rich and dark red and, at first, looks almost identical in color to the Saperavi. But when we held it in natural light, its color appeared to be much clearer and more garnet in appearance. In artificial light, it's just slightly brighter red and there is a very slight effervescence to the pour. I also see long legs with this wine, though when I hold it against the slip of white paper, I can see the red extends to the very edge of the liquid, indicating that this wine is younger than the Saperavi.

The noses

To me, the Saperavi smells a lot like raisins, with the slightest whiff of vanilla.

The Habersham smells strongly of cherries, vanilla, and alcohol.

The tastes

When first poured, the Saperavi is very tannic. This wine practically dries out the tip of the tongue, with flavors of musk, leather, tobaaco, and spice. At first, the wine tastes sour, but it finishes very smoothly as the tannins dissolve. This is a very nice wine, though I think it needs some time to "open up" in a decanter. Given some time in a glass, this wine really opens up nicely, such that the extreme tannins of the first taste aren't nearly as noticeable.

The Habersham feels lighter in the mouth and I can feel tiny bubbles tingle against my tongue. This wine is not bad at all, with a bright taste of cherries and vanilla, slightly sweeter than the Saperavi. As this wine finishes, I can taste a little bit of grapefruit. The Habersham is much less tannic than the Saperavi is and drinkable straight from the bottle.

The verdict

To my great surprise and pleasure, I'd have to say these two wines are both impressive in their own way. The Saperavi is wonderfully complex, with a variety of different flavors and textures. It starts off extremely tannic, which makes it feel very dry in the mouth. However, as it mellows out through aeration, it becomes much smoother and very enjoyable, pairing well with bread and aged cheeses. It would be a nice wine for a cold winter day. It would go well with a heavy meat dish like pot roast or lamb.

The Habersham is lighter and fruitier, though not as complex. I think this wine would appeal more to people who don't like very strong flavors and don't mind a little effervescence. At first taste, the Habersham is sweeter and less complex than the Saperavi, but as the wine settles on the tongue, it tastes less sweet. I like the fact that it's not as tannic and I think this wine would be better for warmer months, when a lighter red wine would be preferable. The Habersham would go nicely with chicken or pasta dishes.

My preference

I like both of these wines and would probably choose one over the other depending on the occasion. But if I had to pick one over another, I would probably choose the Saperavi, just because it's harder to get and much more complex than the Habersham is. The Habersham is easier to immediately drink straight from the bottle, but the Saperavi is more appealing and interesting once it's had some time to mellow out through aeration, proving that good things come to those who wait.

Overall

Just based on this admittedly very amateur experiment, I'd say that both the country and the state of Georgia, though thousands of miles apart, both produce some pretty good wines. Unfortunately, based on our experiences, it's not yet that easy to find wine from either locale. Hopefully, as both types of Georgian wine become more popular, it will become easier to find either one of them at your local store. For now, if you're interested in trying this experiment yourself, I would recommend asking your favorite wine dealer for advice on how to get it.

Sources:

www.kst-georgian-wines.com

www.habershamwinery.com

www.winepros.org

A Southern Season's Web site: www.southernseason.com

Personal experience