Khvanchkara Koncho&Co

Some wines have history. Khvanchkara has a story.
In the mountains of Racha in western Georgia, winter comes early and cold. Harvest here happens later than almost anywhere else in Georgia. The grapes stay on the vine until October, sometimes into November, reaching maximum ripeness before they are picked. The sugar builds slowly in the cool mountain air. By the time the clusters come down, they are as ripe as they will ever be.
Fermentation stops naturally before it finishes. The cold mountain temperatures slow the wild yeast until it simply cannot continue. What remains in the wine is not added sweetness. It is the grape itself, preserved by the mountain winter exactly as nature intended.
This is why Khvanchkara is semi-sweet. Not because anyone decided to make it that way. Because the mountains of Racha made it that way.
The two grapes, Aleksandrouli and Mujuretuli, grow only in this one microclimate. The PDO protects exactly this: no other village, no other grapes can carry the name Khvanchkara.
There is a rumor, widely repeated, never quite confirmed, that this was Stalin's favorite wine. Draw your own conclusions.
Wild raspberry, red currant, rose petals. Lighter and more delicate than Kindzmarauli. A wine that surprises people who expect Georgian semi-sweet to be heavy. It is not heavy. It is precise.
Naturally semi-sweet. Light-bodied. Late harvest. PDO Khvanchkara.
Georgian naturally semi-sweet red wine. Aleksandrouli and Mujuretuli. Late harvest. Khvanchkara PDO. Estate bottled. Koncho and Co. Founded 1737.