I am not a believer in "natural wines" as it seems to judge a wine on its merits and not on some nebulous term. That said, most of the ones I have tried seem like chemistry experiments gone wrong. This is the exception and one of the best "natural wines" I have tasted. It is made from the Saperavi grape in Georgia. It is made with no fining, filtering or addition of sulfites. That said, it is also made in a more "modern" style for Georgian wines, that is fermented for 8 days in temperature controlled vats, pressed off the solids leaving no residual sugar and finished in stainless steel. The result seems to be a pure, beautiful expression of grape and place. It is inky purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is interesting with black raspberries, blueberries, but also some mint and char. Medium to full bodied. Medium tannins. Strong backbone of acidity. On the palate, black raspberries with some char. Clean. Vibrant. A long finish. It is also delicious. It will be interesting to see how this ages, but it seems like five to eight more years as a minimum if well stored. It drinks well on its own and will work with meats or fowl nicely. Qababi (Kebabs), grilled minced meat sprinkled with sumac and onion slices, wrapped in a thin lavash-like bread, would be a nice choice (or something like that).
