Kapistoni: A Boutique, Qvevri Winery in Kartli
The Kapistoni Winery is a traditional winery owned by the Chochishvili family and located about a half hour’s drive north of Tbilisi in the village of Saguramo in the Kartli region. I visited them during my wine tour of Georgia last year and tasted their wines, including several less common varieties like Mukhantsvane, Danakhrauli, and Kundza. Their 10.2 ha estate vineyard of indigenous grape varieties is organically cultivated, and the wines are made the traditional way, in qvevri. The winery (marani) has 58 qvevri of different sizes, producing about 50 thousand bottles of wine per year.
Winemaker Niko Chochishvili
Niko Chochishvili is the 7th generation of his family to make wine. Georgian by birth, Niko moved to the US as a boy and eventually became a US Army Captain. He took early retirement to return to Georgia to continue the family’s winemaking tradition. The white wines remain in qvevri on the skins (no stems) for 4-6 months during which time there are four rackings to new qvevri. The end result is a clean, clear wine. The red wines are fermented on the skins in qvevri for three weeks and also racked monthly to new qvevri.
The wines are imported by Independence Wines & Spirits. In New York City they can also be found at the Chama Mama Georgian restaurant and the Somm Time wine bar in addition to Tin Building by Jean-Georges in Manhattan’s Seaport, The River Cafe, L’Accolade Restaurant, and L’Abelle in Tribeca.
Kapistoni Winery
The Wines
Kapistoni 2019 Rkatsiteli Kakheti 91 Medium light amber color revealing a bouquet of orange, apricot and quince. In the mouth the wine is creamy with good acidity and a long finish. A delicious, dry wine with exotic notes of orange marmalade and whisky.
Kapistoni 2020 Chinebuli Kartli 90 Light amber color showing apple and honey aromas. Chinebuli is known for its acidity, and the wine is fresh tasting with mandarin and apple flavors. Sourced from the Gori region about 75 km to the west of Saguramo with 4 months on the skins in qvevri.
Wine Thief & Qvevri
Kapistoni 2021 Goruli Mtsvane Kartli 91 Medium gold color. Floral, spicy apricot nose. Delicately flavored with a soft, creamy texture and flavors of apple and apricot. Finishes quite dry. An interesting and appealing wine. Niko uses just 50% skins with this variety and varies the amount of time the wines spends on the skins. In 2021 he did 4 months, but in 2022 he did just 2 months. Sourced from Gori.
Kapistoni 2021 Kundza Guria 91 Medium yellow color. Scents of stone fruit, and citrus along with ripe and dried stone fruit show on the palate, too. There’s a delightful delicacy to the wine along with excellent acidity and light tannins. Sourced from a vineyard located near the Black Sea in western Georgia.
Kapistoni 2021 Mukhamtsvane Kartli 90 Medium dark amber. This is a full flavored, savory wine showing yellow raisins, dried orange peel and hints of walnuts and baking spice. Mukhamtsvane is not a widely known grape; it has compact berries, thick skin, and a yellow-brown color when ripe.
Kapistoni 2021 Danakharuli Kartli 91 Medium dark ruby. Very fresh aromas of red plum and berries that are mirrored on the medium weight palate. Very clean with round tannins and a long finish. After fermentation the wine is racked monthly to clean qvevri. Danakharuli is an ancient grape variety that’s not widely planted today.
Kapistoni 2020 Budeshuri Saperavi Kartli 92 Opaque. Aromas and flavors of dark plum, blackberries, blueberries and a hint of dark chocolate. A well made, fruit forward wine with a velvet-like texture, complex flavors, and full body with rich extract on the finish. A wine that can benefit from cellaring. Budeshuri is a higher acid mutation of Saperavi.
