Pheasant’s Tears is a winery near Sighnaghi, a town in central Kakheti region of the Republic of Georgia. It was formed in 2006 as a collaboration between John Wurdeman, an artist from the US, and Gela Patalishvili, a local winemaker. Pheasant’s Tears derives its name from an old Georgian saying that very fine wines make pheasants shed tears of joy when they sip them.

Vineyards: Multiple small vineyards in various regions with a wide range of varietals.

Organic certification: For some vineyards eg. Saperavi.

Winemaking: Wines are fermented and aged in qvevri lined with beeswax. Minimal sulfites.

White wines

Chinuri: 2015 White wine. No skin contact. Nice, cool fermented, vat sample so some reduction but good at the Real Wine Fair 2016.

Chinuri with Skins:

Kisi:

Mtsvane:

Rkatsiteli Qvevri: 2015 Vines on steep slopes, so worked by horse. 6 months on skins with the stems. Well made, clean at the Real Wine Fair 2016.

Rosé wines

Tavkvevri Rosé:

Red wines

Polipheny:  Red wine from 417 varieties. Nice plump fruit at the Real Wine Fair 2016.

Saperavi: 2015 Nice and plump. Bit too much extraction for me at the Real Wine Fair 2016.

Shavkapito:

Tavkvevri:

Tsolikauri:

Bibliography

Real Wine Fair 2016, Tobacco Dock, London 17-18th April.