Guardians Rkatsiteli

Before you go and think Waterford has jumped off the deep end, realize just one thing about this wine – it’s darn tasty: the nose is all honeydew melon and apricot, the palate is crisp and zesty. I know you can’t pronounce the grape name – Rkatsiteli (and I can’t either, but apparently its Re-KATS-ih-TEL-y) – but don’t worry, this is excellent juice.

If you need a gateway to appreciate this wine (as I certainly did), slot it into your crisp white wine cocktail hour agenda. Refreshing palate, beautiful fruit, and easy drinking. It’s not that it could be from anywhere—it is uniquely Georgian—it’s just that its made to welcome you to a land and a people that are the world’s oldest wine producers, in a friendly, yummy style.

Did I say Georgian? Yup, I did. And Georgia the country, not Georgia the state. Let me introduce you to Georgia with a few fun (mostly wine) facts:

First, Georgia is the place where humans started to make wine. And this isn’t just a hoax or silly story, its actually documented by archeologists. Humans some 8,000 years ago grew grapes and fermented them in clay pots, or Qvevri, in order to produce wine.

This makes Georgia not only the birthplace of wine, but also the longest-running producer of wine in the world. So while we may think of Georgian wine as unique or unusual, it’s actually the rest of the wine world that new on the scene!

And Georgians actually think of themselves as Europeans. That fact kinda blew my mind but it’s true – they think of themselves as the farthest eastern country in Europe. They aren’t Russians, nor Persians, nor Chinese nor Mongols; they are Europeans. Can’t fathom that given their geographic location? Then consider this: Georgia is currently the largest per capita non-member contributor to NATO.

The label, and the name (and the wine) are indeed meant to intrigue, invite and interest Americans in Georgian wine. The “Guardians” brand refers to the fact that Georgia has been invaded by all those nationalities mentioned before (and more) and have always fought them off. So they’ve been guarding wine for nearly 8,000 years. The label honors Lela, one of Georgia’s legendary woman warriors.

While all this is intellectually titillating, it really wouldn’t matter to Waterford if the wine sucked. And this wine certainly does not suck. It is the first wine in a long time where right from the first taste to the last glass I’ve thought, “I’ve never heard of this before, and I can’t pronounce it, but darn is it good, and I need more of it in my life!” You need some of it in your life, too!