It seems like a rite of passage for Western wine geeks. Have dinner in a Georgian restaurant and order a delicious wine and then start dreaming about trips to Georgia and wondering why the wines are not part of our regular rotation. But then all the practical realities of life set in.
In this case, I was typically hopeless with the winelist and went for the one name I recognized from US wine geek crews (Nikolashvili), which was no longer available. But, the friendly staff suggested a similar wine and came with the 2017 Chelti Gunashauri Saperavi, which was absolutely lovely and exceeded my (low) expectations. Solid firm fruit but with supple elegance and fairly-well-layered textures and flavors for a modestly-priced wine (42euros on the wine list).
My dreams of Georgia wore off not too long afterwards, and it's hardly going to become a new passion. But it was great to try something new AND so delicious.
In this case, I was typically hopeless with the winelist and went for the one name I recognized from US wine geek crews (Nikolashvili), which was no longer available. But, the friendly staff suggested a similar wine and came with the 2017 Chelti Gunashauri Saperavi, which was absolutely lovely and exceeded my (low) expectations. Solid firm fruit but with supple elegance and fairly-well-layered textures and flavors for a modestly-priced wine (42euros on the wine list).
My dreams of Georgia wore off not too long afterwards, and it's hardly going to become a new passion. But it was great to try something new AND so delicious.