K’AVSHIRI
კავშირი*
by Robert Joseph & Vladimer Kublashvili
For those who prefer the path less trodden - quietly innovative fine wines from the world’s most ancient wine nation
* ‘coming together’: in this case, bringing together grape varieties, vineyards, winemaking methods and vintages in a single bottle of wine.
For each, a journey
No two pathways are alike
Wine, a meeting point
K’AVSHIRI კავშირი
alliance, union, coming together
The best wines, like the finest people, all have their memorable points of difference. Some, however, stand out as being especially individual.
The three K’AVSHIRI assemblages are limited-production rarities, produced in Georgia from blends of local grapes, and vintages, using a range of ancient and modern winemaking techniques. They were painstakingly created for people who take a serious interest in what is on their plate and in their wineglass.
K’AVSHIRI - coming together - is the fruit of five years of imagining, planning and experimentation by former British wine critic and winner of the inaugural Vinventions Innovation Award, Robert Joseph, and leading Georgian winemaker Vladimer Kublashvili.
For people who care.
About the wines
This ambitious project began in 2018 with Joseph and Kublashvili setting out to discover how special a wine they could produce in Georgia when unconstrained by conventional rules. This included exploring novel blends of grape varieties - mostly local, but possibly including the occasional outsider - from wide range of very varied regions .,
Some of the juice - from exclusively handpicked grapes - would be fermented in traditional qvevri amphora; but stainless steel and subtle, second-year, oak would have a role too.
When experimenting with the red and then the rosé, it was discovered that air-drying the rare Aladasturi grapes for 10 days was advantageous. But so, crucially, for the red and white, was blending 15 or more wines from across as many as six harvests - like a top class multi-vintage Champagne or Vega Sicilia Unico Reserva Especial.
The quality of the first Assemblages has already been recognised by JancisRobinson.com, Decanter and the Wine Enthusiast.
The Grapes
K’AVSHIRI White is a complex blend of 10 different grape varieties, eight of which are indigenous to Georgia, plus Muscat which also has ancient origins, and the Burgundian Aligoté that was introduced at the beginning of the 20th century.
K’AVSHIRI Red is even more complex, bringing together 9 varieties, including two Georgian white grapes that ere co-fermented with Saperavi and rare Aladasturi grapes that were dried for 10 days before fermentation.
The 2024 Assemblage of K’AVSHIRI Rosé is only produced from grapes picked in 2024, and only 1,500 bottles were made. The ‘lead’ variety - selected after much experimentation - is the rare Ojaleshi.
Winemaking
Georgia is famous for its Qvevri - terracotta amphora - winemaking. Nearly 12% of the 2023 Assemblage K’AVSHIRI White - five separate grape varieties - was fermented in qvevri, but 5% was fermented on its skins in stainless steel and 10% benefited from 2nd/3rd year oak barrels.
The 2022 Assemblage K’AVSHIRI Red is even more groundbreaking, combining air-dried Aladasturi grapes with Saperavi co-fermented with white Rkatsiteli and Mtsvane grapes. Nearly 24% was fermented in Qvevri.
Production of the 2024 Assemblage Rosé involved co-fermentation, air-dryng grapes, brief exposure to qvevri, and barrel fermentation.