Troebel Wijnen
60 days contact with 5-10% of the skins - Winery Zodi Khvishkhuri
60 days contact with 5-10% of the skins - Winery Zodi Khvishkhuri
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The Wine & Winemaker
- Winemaker: Giga Chighladze & Nino Buskhrikidze (Winery Zodi)
- Region: Imereti, Georgia
- Grape: 100% Khvishkhuri
The Story
We are kicking off our Orange Edition in the country where it all began: Georgia. But we are starting off very subtly. While many people immediately associate Georgia with heavy, dark wines, Giga and Nino from Winery Zodi prove that it can also be incredibly elegant. In the Imereti region, they work according to a specific local tradition. For this wine, the juice does go into an underground qvevri for two months, but they only add five to ten percent of the grape skins to it. Fun detail: in Georgia, the birthplace of this style, you will rarely hear the term 'orange wine'. They actually dislike the western term and proudly and exclusively speak of Amber wine (karvisperi ghvino). Technically, this unique Khvishkhuri is more of a white wine with a very light 'amber' structure. It is the absolute best, most accessible starting point to slowly introduce your senses to skin contact.
The Vibe & Tasting Notes
Because so few skins were used, this wine does not pour bright orange, but rather a beautiful, clear golden yellow. On the nose, it bursts with fresh energy, featuring aromas of ripe yellow fruit, lime, and subtle white flowers. On the first sip, you immediately taste an incredibly juicy and mouthwatering acidity, but the real magic is in the finish. Right there, you can feel that tiny percentage of skin contact: a very subtle edge of texture that gives the wine just a bit more backbone than a standard white wine. It is a fantastic, thirst quenching bottle to open well chilled in the first spring sun.
Why natural wine costs more, and why it’s worth it
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No shortcuts
Growers who refuse pesticides and chemical additives accept that they’ll lose a significant part of their harvest to weather, disease, and unpredictable nature, but they do it to keep their wines pure, alive, and honest.
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Risk and loss
Nature swings between plenty and scarcity; frost, hail, heat and ferments can erase volumes, fewer bottles must carry the farm’s costs, with ageing measures adding expense to keep the wine clean and true over time.
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Integrity and handwork
Hands replace chemicals: they weed, manage canopies, pick, and sort by hand; presses and gravity moves protect texture, while cleanliness and patient ageing deliver purity without shortcuts, increasing labor but preserving integrity in every bottle.
