Ben says

★★ Great Wine This entry level amber wine has aged beautifully. I used to buy it from Danilo at gVino and it was a great intro to the style. Now it’s an example to be celebrated. It clearly just needed time. The sweet, perfumed nose of candied orange peel, apricot and vanilla fudge leads into a grippy and moreish palate with mixed citrus and tea-like tannins. It’s long and fresh, with fruit like dried mango. Marvellous.

Guerrieri Rizzardi '3 Cru' Amarone della Valpolicella Red Wine

KEY POINTS

A blend of Mtsvane and Rkatsiteli with 13.0% abv. Made from a mixture of stainless steel and qvevri aged wines. Bottled semi-dry with some residual sugar.

Grown in: Kakheti, GEORGIA.

Food Pairing

Deeply characterful, this wine will be a winner with feasts of different flavours. Cured meats and savoury biscuits would see through the bottle gleefully.

Disclosure & Price

Tasted during a study session on skin contact wines. This vintage is not available anymore, but you can pick up newer vintages for as little as £7.50.

Reviewed and tasted: 07/01/2025

Ben Franks Wine Tasting Note Producer Profile

About the Producer

Kakheti, in eastern Georgia, is known for its mild but sun-drenched climate. This idyllic vine ripening weather inspired the name of Vazisubani’s entry level range called Georgian Sun. These wines are made in a more approachable style than their flagship Qvevri wines, mixing a blend of stainless steel, more reductive and fruit-forward winemaking with the tannic and rustic charms of Qvevri. Qvevri is a traditional amphora-based winemaking technique, and well worth researching if you want to explore orange – or amber as the Georgians prefer to call them – wines. The symbol of the sun is one of the seven ideograms that make up the Georgian alphabet, an important part of the Georgian philosophy.