Georgain natural wines (1) Lapati Wines
Website: https://www.lapatiwines.com/
I tasted these wines with Guillaume Gouerou, one half of Lapati Wine. He was an artist when he first visited Georgia in 2015 for an art event, where he was to present his sculptures. But there he met Vincent Jullien who was making natural wine. So they decided to make wine together, and began the project, building a marani in a property in Sagarejo, in the Kakheti wine region.
They made some wine together: initially focusing solely on PetNat, but then branching out to still wines. They have now been making wine for 8 years, and have their own winery in Kakheiti. They also have 1.5 hectares of vines, with 1 hectare already in production (just Rkatsiteli) and half a hectare that they will plant with other varieties.
Winemaking is lo-fi. They use sulfites to clean the qvevris and sometimes add just a small amount to wine (5 mg/litre). The total sulfites in their finished wines are low, ranging from 15-35 mg/litre.
THE WINES
Lapati Wines Kidev Erti Rkatsteli Pet Nat 2020 Georgia
Fruity, lively and bright with nice pure citrus fruit. So linear and fresh with nice texture. 92/100
Lapati Wines Tetris Mstvane 2022 Georgia
This spends 10 days on skins and is then pressed to qvevri for ageing. Lovely weight here: fresh and linear with a cheesy sour cherry edge to the bright lemony fruit. Such nice focus here, with purity and keen acidity. 94/100
Lapati Wines Chak Rkatsiteli 2022 Georgia
Direct pressed and then aged in qvevri. Lovely texture here: pure and fine, showing nice weight on the palate with a chalky edge to the fine lemony fruit. So textural. 94/100
Lapati Wines Chakalix Rkatsiteli 2022 Georgia
This has 7 months skin contact. Very fine and linear. Stony and mineral with good structure and purity, showing great acidity. 93/100
Lapati Wines Saperavi 2022 Georgia
This is destemmed and fermented on skins for 10 days, and then aged in qvevri. Lively and fine with lots of fruit and good acidity. Red cherries, plums and a vital, alert character. 94/100
