From the valleys of Portugal to the countryside of France, Europe is home to many prominent wine regions. Most wine drinkers are familiar with Champagne, Tuscany, and Bordeaux, but the continent is vast and holds many other regions that have a history steeped in great winemaking. Unsurprisingly, discovering the hidden gems of European wine can be a daunting, albeit tasty, endeavor.

If you love wine and Georgia hasn’t made your travel bucket list yet, all I can say is – you messed up. Thankfully, it’s never too late to change that. Because Georgian wine is – and has been – having a moment. In 2021 alone, Georgia exported 107 million bottles of wine to 62 countries worldwide.

John Wurdeman was about to depart for Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 24 to attend the SuperNatural Wine Festival when he was told not to board the plane.

A lot of people think of orange wines as natural wines, and many would qualify. But not all. Natural wines must adhere to a wide range of imperatives, from how the grapes are farmed to how the wine is made. Orange wines are simply born of specific winemaking techniques

As a longtime (15-ish years) lover of Georgian wines, I crave the oxidized elegance and ancient roots of the country’s often incredible wines. Here are two recent standouts:

Regional Grape Production in Georgia, 2017-2020.
3/4 is grown in the Kakheti region (east of Tbilisi); and Kakheti’s production has almost doubled between 2017 and 2020

Last month, wine professionals in Houston were given the opportunity to taste wines from one of the country of Georgia’s flagship producer, Teliani Valley, over lunch at Concura to learn about the ancestral grapes, the ancient winemaking techniques, and the modern tools which come together to make the classic wines of the Kakheti region. There are 525 grape varieties currently recorded in the country with over 135,000 acres under vine, 72.4% of those vines are located in Kakheti.

On this edition of The NOLADrinks Show with Bryan Dias, we complete our trilogy on the wines of Georgia! This time, we focus on the central portion of the country. Our guest is Noel Brockett of Georgian Wine House.

A cultural exchange with Georgian winemakers, ANsomigaFORA has helped Romagnoli producers rediscover the region’s native grape varieties through qvevri

For many people, choosing a great wine can be a complex process. A good wine shop will have a seemingly endless number of choices, making it tough for a customer to decide without expert help. After all, a description on a wine bottle can only do so much in terms of capturing the true essence of a wine. For the best results and satisfaction, there’s nothing like curated suggestions from a wine professional.