In an article published on August 23, The Independent listed a Qvevri Saperavi from Vazisubani Estate Winery among the 14 best Eastern European wines, describing it as “unfiltered, leaving you to wallow in ripe cherry and soft fruits with pleasing tannins.”

"There used to be a certain sniffiness about Eastern European wines. They were treated as unwelcome attendees at the wine lover’s party...never granted a place at the top table," explains the article. Now, however, the game has changed, and Eastern European wine is "having a moment." The article attributes the shift to better access to technology and "know-how often imported from their Western neighbours." Of course, many Georgian wine makers (and wine lovers) might argue that Georgian wine has always been something special, and its recent growth in popularity is not because they ahve learned from western vintners, but because, after independence and with the growth of the economy, wine makers again have the freedom and financial capacity to return to historic traditions. 

The article recognizes Georgia as "one of the oldest wine regions in the world" and praises the traditional qvevri method, "where the wine is fermented in subterranean terracotta amphoras."

The Independent is a British online newspaper.

Read the full list here: https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/food-drink/wine/eastern-europe-wine-cabernet-romania-slovenia-hungary-a8499201.html

By Samantha Guthrie

Photo: The Independent