# Pheasant's Tears Kisi (2024)

- **Producer:** Pheasant's Tears
- **Colour:** orange
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Kisi
- **Region:** Kakheti, Georgia
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 12.0%
- **Average price:** €25
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 12–14 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** apricot, peach, orange, dried apricot, marmalade, honey

## About this wine

Pheasant's Tears was established in 2007 in Sighnaghi, Kakheti, through a partnership between American artist John Wurdeman and eighth-generation Georgian winemaker Gela Patalishvili. The winery was created with a mission to preserve and revitalize ancient Georgian winemaking traditions and indigenous grape varieties. The estate's name is inspired by a traditional Georgian folk tale suggesting that only a truly exceptional wine could cause a pheasant to weep tears of joy. The Kisi grape is an ancient white variety native to Kakheti that was nearly lost to history before being rescued by artisanal producers in Eastern Georgia.

## Interesting facts

- Named after a legend stating that only extraordinary wine could make a pheasant weep tears of joy.
- Fermented and aged in qvevri, traditional beeswax-lined clay vessels buried underground.
- Co-founded by American painter John Wurdeman and 8th-generation Georgian winemaker Gela Patalishvili.

## Food pairing

The firm phenolic tannins, textural weight, and rich dry structure of skin-contact qvevri orange wine act much like a light red wine. The tannins bind with proteins and fats in rich meat and cheese dishes, while the bright acidity and phenolic grip slice through aromatic spices, garlic, and walnut pastes without being overwhelmed.

## Wine making process

This skin-contact orange wine is produced using traditional ancient Georgian methods in qvevri, large subterranean beeswax-lined clay amphorae. Hand-harvested grapes are 90% destemmed and gently pressed before undergoing spontaneous fermentation driven entirely by ambient wild yeasts. The juice remains in contact with the grape skins and pomace inside the buried qvevri for extended maceration lasting between one and six months. Following fermentation and skin contact, the wine is racked and aged further in qvevri before being bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with minimal to no added sulfur.