Orovela Cuvée Chandrebi, 2007, Georgia  Add/Read Comments

This match really didn't work and I'm not too sure why. Pairing this Georgian white with a Mediterranean Haloumi Salad - onions, tomato, olives, grilled red peppers, basil and fried haloumi cheese - you would have thought would have partnered well with a crisp, dry white. But no.

Perhaps the saltiness of the cheese was the main culprit or the raw red onion clashed with the slight tart finish to the wine. Or more likely I just wasn't paying attention; the summer sun and those sultry days of a few weeks back (remember them?) can do that.

Now Rkatsiteli as a grape I am familiar with (much planted in Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and of course the Ukraine) but Mtsvane? According to the Georgian Wine Society, who supplied this wine, Mtsvane means "new, young, green" (referring to the unusual colour of the fruit when ripe), is often blended with Rkatsiteli adding a fruity, aromatic balance. Here the Mtsvane dominates, comprising 85% of the blend. (Either way its another addition to the Wine Century Club list of tasted varieties)