A qvevri is a winemaking vessel made from clay.

To help celebrate the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, the country Georgia is sending a qvevri to the UN offices in Geneva, according to a report in Agenda.ge. The qvevri will become a permanent display.  The relationship between a qvevri and the United Nations dates to late 2013. Qvevri winemaking was added to the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Qvevri winemaking is the only winemaking process on the UNESCO list. Yet, in the United States, qvevri wines are mostly unknown to the wine enthusiasts.

However knowing about this unknown wine is beginning to change as more education and qvevri wines are introduced to the American public. Of the three books that Kathy and I have written, Georgia, Sakartvelo: the Birthplace of Wine, is the best selling. Soon we will need to reorder books for our use in author talks where we discuss qvevri making and qvevri winemaking. Some of our author talks include wine tastings of Georgian appellation wines and qvevri wines. We had a private qvevri wine tasting for a few people while at the 2015 Wine Bloggers Conference in Corning, New York.

Qvevris made by Zaliko Bodjadze, one of the few artisan qvevri makers in the country Georgia.

While in the Finger Lakes we visited several wineries. Some of the winemakers we interviewed show an interest and a curiosity about qvevri winemaking. Perhaps not enough interest to make a commercial qvevri wine in the United States, but enough interest to make a qvevri wine. The interest is there, the qvevris are not. A qvevri is a clay vessel that is shaped in somewhat like an egg. The vessel is fired and as it is cooling down the interior is coated with beeswax. If you get the temperatures correct, the beeswax is absorbed into the qvevri. We had to apply beeswax to the small qvevri we brought back to Maryland from Georgia. Once applied, when we cleaned the qvevri, water beaded up on the inside of the qvevri like water beads up on an automobile after it is waxed.

Qvevris are then buried in the ground, this helps maintain a constant cool temperature throughout the year. While in Georgia, we tasted qvevri wine from qvevris that were hundreds of years old. If taken care of, a buried qvevri will last for generations. Compared to oak barrels and stainless steel tanks, qvevris are the most cost effective winemaking vessels.

There is a qvevri maker in the United States. Billy Ray Mangham of Sleeping Dog Pottery, in San Marcos, Texas traveled to Georgia to learn qvevri making from the few remaining artisans in the country. He is selling handmade qvevri in three sizes ranging from 38 liters to 227 liters. His prices are competitive when compared to the much lower cost of qvevris in Georgia and the shipping cost to ship the qvevri over 6,000 miles. United States winemakers that would like to experiment with qvevri winemaking should contact Billy Ray through the Qvevri Project to place an order. Another option is to travel to Georgia and see how qvevris and qvevri wine is made. It is fascinating!

Amber wine made at Keuka Lake Vineyards, although not made in a qvevri, the wine was fermented on the skins.

Another challenge in the United States is whether the American wine drinkers are ready for qvevri wines. In the case of the reds, they are. In the case of the amber wines, education will need to precede the wine tasting. Kathy and I are continuing to visit wineries in the United States that are producing a white wine with extended skin contact mostly until the end of fermentation, occasionally a week or two of maceration after that. That is enough time for the wines to extract color from the skins and extract tannins. Most American wine enthusiasts are not accustomed to a white wine with tannins. Red wine drinkers that enjoy tannins may enjoy these amber wines though.

While in the Finger Lakes we were treated to a wine that had undergone fermentation on the skins. Keuka Lake Vineyards in Hammondsport, New York crafts a Vignoles Dry Amber wine. The wine had a floral aroma and floral and dried fruit notes on the taste. The Vignoles wine had bold tannins. Generally speaking, we spit and dump wines while visiting several wineries per day. I drank this wine. Little by little, Americans are learning about qvevris and qvevri winemaking. So is the rest of the world. Visitors to the United Nations in Geneva, will pass by a qvevri and perhaps desire to taste a qvevri wine.

Cheers,
Terry