Igavi Wines, Tsolikouri Lechkhumi

Igavi Wines are located in the village of Zeindari, in the Imereti region of Western Georgia. It is the passion project of New Zealand winemaker Aidan Raftery. Aidan, who moved to Georgia from New Zealand in 2019, spent six years remodeling this ancient stone structure into a home for his vibrant, palpably living wines. Forget about garage wines and think more of a cow shed full of kvevri. The traditional Georgian clay vessels sit alongside old acacia barrels, a custom basket press made of old Georgian oak, and gleaming stainless steel tanks. This is where Aidan Raftery tends to Georgia's indigenous grapes like Tsolikouri and Vanis Chkhaveri. 

Their Tsolikouri Lechkhumi is a highly acclaimed, minimal-intervention natural white wine. It is incredibly saline and mineral, with cucumber and green apple, and dried chamomile from the oxidative flor components. The wine is fermented in steel with ambient yeasts and then aged in large Georgian acacia barrels, not topped up to encourage the growth of flor. The wine is unfiltered, unfined with no added sulphites.