Saperavi, ancient and distinctive south west georgian grape variety notable for the colour and acidity it can bring to a blend. It is Georgia’s signature and most-planted red wine grape. As a varietal wine, it is capable, not to say demanding, of long bottle ageing. The flesh of this dark-skinned grape is deep pink and it produces wines that command attention if not always devotion. It ripens late, is relatively productive, and is quite well adapted to cold winters, but not so well that the Russian Potapenko viticultural research institute has been discouraged from producing a Saperavi Severny, a hybrid of severny and Saperavi which was released in 1947 and incorporates not just Saperavi’s vinifera genes, but also those of the cold-hardy vitis amurensis.
