Vinification

Selected block, Saperavi of Kondoli vineyards has been green-harvested during the first days of véraison (August) in order to artificially reduce the grape yield down to 5-6 tons per hectare and thus, increase the overall quality and concentration of remaining fruit. At the end of September the grapes were hand-harvested in small boxes, hand- sorted in our winery, gently de-stemmed and lightly crushed into open top 225 l barriques. The fermentation was performed by wild yeast, found on grape skins. During the whole process of fermentation, which has been held naturally at maximum 26°C, cap management has been performed only by hand punching, thus, overall mechanical impact on grape skins has been minimized, ensuring soft extraction of colour and tannin from the grape skin. After fermentation wine was transferred by gravity to oak barrels for maturation and acquiring extra volume and complexity. The wine was bottled unfiltered, complemented by bottle ageing in our cellar before the release.