Rkatsiteli

Rkatsiteli is the main white grape of Georgia and, before the Soviet anti-alcohol campaign of 1985 destroyed much of the vineyard, it was one of the most planted white grapes in the world. It is ancient, and it holds high acidity even at full ripeness in a warm climate, which is rare.

In stainless steel it gives a crisp, clean white with green apple, quince and a faint spice. Fermented on its skins in a qvevri, which is the traditional Georgian method, it becomes something else entirely: amber in colour, tannic, nutty, with dried apricot and tea leaf. This is what the modern trade calls orange wine, and Georgia has been making it continuously for thousands of years rather than reviving it.

It is grown across the former Soviet Union and there are plantings in the Finger Lakes in New York, in Virginia and in China. Its cold hardiness made it useful across the continental interior, and it is one of the varieties most likely to become better known as Georgian wine finds a wider market.