Saperavi

Saperavi comes from Georgia. VIVC records Georgia as its country or region of origin, and Jancis Robinson calls it "Georgia's native vine". Its parentage is unknown: both parent fields in its VIVC passport are blank, and no full pedigree is recorded. The passport does flag offspring, but WineWiki's VIVC-derived lineage data lists no children or siblings for Saperavi.

• VIVC prime name: Saperavi; VIVC variety number 10708; country of origin: Georgia
• Parents: none recorded (parentage unknown)
• Offspring: flagged in the VIVC passport; none listed in WineWiki's lineage data

Saperavi is a very old variety. The traditional Georgian method of making wine in the qvevri, an egg-shaped earthenware vessel used for making, ageing and storing wine, was inscribed in 2013 on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Qvevri wine-making is practised throughout Georgia.

• A very old Georgian variety
• The qvevri: an egg-shaped earthenware vessel for making, ageing and storing wine
• Qvevri wine-making inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013

Saperavi is Georgia's most widely planted red grape, and Georgia's 2004 census counted 3,704 hectares of Saperavi vineyards. Its aromas are terroir-sensitive. In the Finger Lakes, Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery sources most of its Saperavi from Pendleton Farms, at the southern tip of Canandaigua Lake, and the rest from its estate vineyards on Seneca Lake.

• Georgia's most widely planted red grape
• Georgia's 2004 census: 3,704 hectares of Saperavi vineyards
• Finger Lakes: Pendleton Farms on Canandaigua Lake and estate vineyards on Seneca Lake

Saperavi is a teinturier variety, and the pink flesh of its grapes gives deep-coloured wines. It can be made dry, semi-sweet, sweet or fortified. Both traditional and European methods are used, and it may be aged in oak. Saperavi wines have marked acidity and, usually, tannin, and they respond well to ageing.

• Teinturier variety: pink flesh gives deep-coloured wines
• Made dry, semi-sweet, sweet and fortified
• Marked acidity and, usually, tannin; the wines respond well to ageing

Saperavi wines are inky and often fully opaque, with aromas of dark berries, tobacco and spices. Texturally, the wine is sappy and tannic, with considerable acidity. In the Finger Lakes, Dr. Konstantin Frank's 2023 Saperavi shows black cherry and blackberry on the nose, with accents of black pepper and cedar from French oak.

• Inky, often fully opaque colour
• Aromas of dark berries, tobacco and spices
• Sappy and tannic, with considerable acidity
• Dr. Konstantin Frank's 2023 Saperavi: black cherry, blackberry, and black pepper and cedar from French oak

In the Finger Lakes, Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery makes a 100% Saperavi. Part of its fruit comes from estate vineyards on Seneca Lake, planted in 2010 and 2016 from original cuttings from Dr. Konstantin Frank's first plantings in the early 1960s.

Primary sources: https://www.vivc.de/index.php?r=passport%2Fview&id=10708 ; https://wine.gov.ge/En/VarietyRed ; https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/ancient-georgian-traditional-qvevri-wine-making-method-00870 ; https://www.drfrankwines.com/wine/saperavi/ Reference sources: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/learn/grape-varieties/red/saperavi Last verified 2026-10-20