Shop/Orange & Skin-Contact/Shumi Iberiuli Kisi
Kakheti, Georgia, Georgia
Shumi Iberiuli Kisi 2020
Shumi Winery
Georgia's amber tradition — 100% Kisi, fermented and aged in buried qvevri clay.
$46.00
750ml13% alc.Vintage may change. If it does, we’ll notify you of any price adjustment before dispatch.
About
Shumi's Iberiuli Kisi is a 100% Kisi amber (orange) wine from Georgia's Kakheti region, fermented on skins in traditional buried qvevri vessels before a short stint in French oak. Extended skin contact gives it a deep, structured amber-gold colour, fine tannin grip and a layered nose of dried apricot, orange peel, white pepper and chamomile, with citrusy, sherry-like notes and a silky, balanced finish.
Qvevri are big clay vessels buried to the neck in the winery floor. Georgians have fermented wine in them for some 8,000 years. UNESCO listed the method as intangible cultural heritage in 2013. Shumi's Iberiuli range pairs that tradition with European technique. The wine ferments on its skins in qvevri, then spends four months in French oak.
Younger releases show where this wine starts. The note on the 2022 finds quince, apple and pear with tobacco, walnut and forest floor. The palate runs to quince jam, mushroom and toasted nuts with a bass note of bitterness. Our 2020 has two more years on it, so expect the nutty, savoury side to lead.
Serve it cool rather than cold, and give it air in the glass. Roast pork, rich fish, hard cheese and anything with walnuts suit it, and it handles Middle Eastern spice.
Producer note
Shumi is one of the first family wineries re-established in modern Georgia, working from the Kakheti heartland — the traditional cradle of wine — and drawing on the country's 8,000-year qvevri winemaking history. The Kisi grapes for this bottling come from the estate's Mziuri vineyard in the Akhmeta district.
Structure
Grape
Picked on Stef's structure profile.
