This wine is not available right now. It is not in the online shop at the moment. Below are the draft wines that are in stock now.
Khikhvi has travelled the longest road of any wine in our range: fourteen months in qvevri in total. If you want to get to know the full character of qvevri wine, this is the wine to start with.
The colour is amber. The taste is balanced and harmonious, with pronounced tannin — exactly the structure that the qvevri and time on the skins give. Full body, long finish. Alcohol 12.8%.
Amber wine is technically white, but at the table it behaves like a red: thanks to its tannin it stands up to rich and grilled dishes in a way ordinary white wine cannot.
The wine spent six months on the skins in qvevri — together with the grape skins, seeds and stems. This is when it takes on its amber colour and tannin.
Then the skins are removed and the wine ages for another eight months in the same qvevri, now clean. This second stage softens the tannin and brings harmony to the taste.
This qvevri tradition has been on UNESCO's list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2013.
Khikhvi is a rare white variety from Kakheti, historically tied to the Kvareli area. Its berries are reddish-amber, which gives qvevri wine an especially deep colour. Khikhvi is considered ideal for qvevri: it has enough body to withstand long skin contact, and enough aroma not to get lost under the tannin.
Serve at 12–14°C — the sweet spot for an amber wine. Served cold, Khikhvi loses half of its aroma.
Once poured, it keeps its character for 5–7 days in the fridge in a tightly closed container. A full container keeps longer than a half-empty one.
It is wine made from white grapes that stays in contact with the grape skins for a long time. The skins give it an amber colour and tannin — something usually found only in red wine.
Six months on the skins give the wine its structure, and the next eight months in qvevri, without the skins, soften that structure. Both stages are needed for a harmonious result.
Drink it with food rather than on its own, and do not chill it too much. Amber wine opens up much better alongside a dish.
At Wine Store Orbeliani you can taste draft wine before you buy.
