Real Wine Fair Videos: John Wurdeman of Pheasant’s Tears

It was, as always, a pleasure to have John Wurdeman at the Real Wine Fair 2016. In addition to pouring his soulful wines, John and a few of his fellow Georgian winemakers presented a seminar on wine and Georgian folk culture, broke into spontaneous polyphonic song mid-fair, and hosted an unforgettable Georgian supra (traditional feast) at Terroirs Wine Bar on the first night of the fair.

Watch John talk about his adopted country’s rich and ancient wine culture:

Pheasant’s Tears was formed in 2006 as a collaboration between John Wurdeman, an artist from the US, and Gela Patalishvili, a multi generation vigneron.  A winery devoted to showcasing the rare varieties and terroirs of Georgia they have multiple small vineyards in various regions, all of which are farmed organically.  All of their wines are made in qvevri – earthenware jars buried entirely in the ground used for fermentation and storage up until bottling in accordance with ancient Georgian winemaking traditions. They focus on rare varietals such as Tavkvevri, Shavkapito and Tsolikouri (amongst many) and preserving an expression of unique terroir. They even make a grape archivist’s dream blend from a 400 different varieties – go smoke that, Châteauneuf-du-Pape!

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