Pheasant’s Tears Tsiska 2024

Pheasant's Tears, the partnership of painter John Wurdeman and grower Gela Patalishvili, farms in Kakheti, the heartland of Georgian wine in the country's east. Tsiska is a native white grape vinified in the traditional Georgian way, fermented and aged on its skins, stems and pips in qvevri, the large clay vessels buried underground. This long skin and solids contact extracts tannin, colour and phenolic structure and turns the wine deep amber, while the buried clay holds a steady cool temperature and allows a slow, gentle oxidative ageing through its porous walls. The wine spends nine months in qvevri before bottling, made naturally with native yeasts and no additions. The result is savoury, textural and grippy. The colour is deep amber. The nose shows dried apricot, orange peel and dried herbs, with beeswax and a faint earthiness. The palate is dry and firm, the skin and stem tannin giving real structure, the finish long and savoury, closing on almond and citrus peel. This is a food wine. Serve at 12 to 14 degrees in a wide glass. It suits roast pork, chicken and roasted roots.