A Guide To The Grape Rkatsiteli
Interlude
Welcome to this post about the grape variety known as Rkatsiteli. Probably most famous for the orange wines it is made into from the Georgian winemakers. Using some of the oldest winemaking techniques in the world. In the last post we covered one of the most prestigious sweet grapes, Petit Manseng. A truly great one.
We are doing all these guides to learn more about the world of wine and feel more comfortable navigating it. it’s a vast one so every bit of knowledge will help. Much like all the other posts we will discuss the history of the grape, the style of wine it makes, climate and geography and of course some recommendations. So without further ado, let’s get started!
History of the grape
The origin of the grape can definitavle be traced back to Georgia. There is evidence the grape has been grown here for over 5000 years, with traditions dating 3000 BC. This makes it one of the oldest grapes in the entire world, if not the absolute oldest one. The grape actually saw a great increase in popularity during the Soviet Union. At one point it accounted for 18 % of the plantings in the vineyard. After the fall the popularity drastically decreased and became mostly common in Georgien only.
It saw a great deal of versatile use in the Soviet Union. Made into everything from table wine, liqueries to sherry-like fortified wines. It could be estimated to be the most planted white grape in the entire world prior to the vine pull scheme of President Gorbachev. In the region of Kakheti in Georgien it has been mostly known to make sweet dessert wines. it was traditionally fashioned in a similar sense as port wine was. There have been many attempts to make a sparkling wine out of the grape but there has been very little success.
The reason being the very high natural alcohol content the wines produce. The longest history of winemaking regarding the grape is the technique of digging down large vessels in the ground to leave the grapes to ferment and even age sometimes. Something of a signature technique of the country and the winemakers there. It has also for a very long time been made like an orange wine. This is because the wines are left to ferment with the skins, making the color orange.
Because Georgien is arguably the oldest wine producing country in the world, we can make an educated guess this is the style the grape has been made into for many thousands of years.
The style of wine
The style of wine that the grapes are made into are best described as restrained and refreshing at the same time. With great lushness going through and through. I often associate the wines with flavours of green apple with a crispness, like biting into one that is just freshly picked and still somewhat warm from the gazing sun.
They also get some tones of quince giving more acidity and some slight roundness like white peaches. Some people describe the wines with some good Petit Chablis or even Pinot Grigio from northern Italy. We went over that the most traditional and oldest style of making it is leaving it with the skins to create the orange color or hue to the wines.
This process does not only give the wines the color but also gives it texture and most importantly, complexity. The longer left with the skins the richer and creamier but also stronger of a color. The tradition surrounding the grape is very much respected in its home country. Here you can even find bottles of wine labeled with the year the vineyard started in boulder letters then the actual vintage of the wine.
Climate and geography
The grape does not only see great success in Georgien, but in many other countries too in eastern Europe. It holds the number one spot in both Ukraine and Bulgaria. It also has a very respectable presence or cultivation in both Moldavia, Romania and Armenia. All these countries were at some point aligned with or under the control of the Soviet Union so it’s no wonder that the grape has such a wide cultivation here.
Although, now, not nearly the same level as back then. Outside of Europe it also sees some form of popularity in China where it instead goes by the name Baiyu and the United States where it just goes by Rkatsiteli. In the US the most vineyards are focused in the northeastern states. The ones that stand out the most are Orange County in Virginia and Finger Lakes in New York. These places actually have quite a lot in common with the climate in its home country of Georgien. There are also a few experimental vineyards in both California and Colorado.
Recommendations
As for the types of wine that I tend to go after, it varies a little bit. It might not be something that I would want to have all the time. But instead every now and again. I don’t really like the sweet wines that are made with it. But the fresh styles are insanely crisp and nice to have during a hot summer day.
The most famous one that I enjoy comes from the producer Askaneli Brothers in the Kakheti region in Georgien. That’s about where it stops for me. In Sweden where I live there is not a very wide array of choices of wine made with Rkatsiteli.
Last words
That’s a wrap for this post about the grape variety known as Rkatsiteli. probably one of the oldest if not the oldest one in the entire world. For sure one with the most history behind it and tradition. I hope that you have enjoyed reading this and feel more confident navigating the world of wine now. Stay tuned for the next post where we will start talking about the wine production in Switzerland.
