Other Georgian Wine Kits?

[TXHardwoodVintners]

Newbie here, The best wine I ever had was many moons ago at the Stoli Bar and Grill in Houston TX which has long since been closed. Unfortunately I enjoyed the wine too much and can't remember anything about it other than it was red, Georgian (the one next to Russia) and absolutely delicious!! I may have been 22 at the time (an age that may have contributed to my over indulgence), but the taste of that wine was so amazing that I've never forgotten it. Naturally when I got into kit winemaking, very recently, I looked for kits from this region but have found nothing which is strange given that it's a huge wine region. Does anyone have any thoughts on the lack of availability of wine kits from this region?

 

[cpfan]

I would think that the principal reason is that most people have never heard of Georgian wine. An official web-site shows availability in just 6 American states.

Wine kits are principally made in Canada from grapes & juices from around the world. If Georgian grapes/juices were available to Canadian companies I would have expected one of the companies to try at least one limited edition kit. However, it is possible that the manufacturers feel that these varieties would not sell. The list of varieties on Wiki contains Cab Sauv and a lot of names that I have never heard before.

http://www.georgianwinehouse.com/AboutGWine.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_wine

Thank you for bringing this topic to my attention. Interesting to see that the LCBO (Ontario Canada) lists 7 Georgian wines (all red, I think). Not in general availability, available only in specialty Vintages stores. There are 3 Georgian wines listed in British Columbia (a dry red, dry white, semi-sweet red).

Steve

 

[slurve]

Cant say I've ever seen a kit or even juice available but could the wine have been a Saperavi based wine?

I think I've seen a few in the Finger Lakes region, only one I can recall by name the Black Russian Red from McGregor Vineyard on Keuka Lake. There has also been some experimentation white Georgian whites in the region, mostly Rkatsiteli.

 

[byathread]

Hey, I've been to Stoli with Russian friends way back in the day! All I can say is Russians know how to party!

 

[TXHardwoodVintners]

byathread, my thoughts exactly! I don't know why that place closed, I've never been anywhere like that since with good drink, good food, singers, musicians, dancing..... honestly, they have to carry me out of there - it was a blast!!