credit: drwinkler
Baia Abuladze grew up in an Imereti winemaking family. Her grandfather Bondo Ghvaladze was chief agronomist for the local collective vineyard in Soviet times, and her uncle Zurab Ghvaladze makes wine from his family’s nearby small vineyard. Baia caught the wine bug while studying at university, and soon her siblings joined her in developing their family winery in village Meore Obcha in Bagdati municipality in 2015. Her sister Gvantsa spent time in Mosel, Germany, to learn biodynamic growing methods and earned a masters in agronomy at the Georgian Agricultural University, and brother Giorgi studied enology. Gvantsa is the winemaker for several wines tasted and all the pet-nats.
credit: drwinkler
Today the family has 9 hectares of vines with plans to double that amount in the future. It sits at about 324m elevation with alluvial soils of clay, gravel and limestone. The family uses traditional Imeretian winemaking methods that include skin contact in qvevri for a short period of time during fermentation.
Baia’s Wine is perhaps best known for its Krakhuna blend made with 15 days skin contact. They also make white wines from Tistska and Tsolikouri as well as a red from Otskhanuri Sapere. Over half of the production is currently sold in 14 export markets, the US being the largest. US Importer: Georgian Wine House
The Wines
Baias Wine 2023 Gvantsa’s Wine Tsitska Pet Nat Imereti (Bagdati) The grapes for this wine come from Zurab’s vineyard. The nose shows apple and bread dough notes. Round and full on the palate with high acidity and flavors of melon, apple, and yeastybread.
Baias Wine 2023 Gvantsa’s Wine Aladasturi Pet Nat Imereti (Bagdati) Medium copper salmon color. Red raspberry shows on the nose followed by a creamy attack and light red berry flavors on a effervescent palate. Good but not aggressive acidity. The grapes come from Baia’s vineyard.
Baias Wine 2023 Krakhuna Imereti (Bagdati) An attractive wine showing herbal, straw and citrus aromas. Big in the mouth with moderate acidity and fresh melon and lychee flavors. Finishes dry and long. Has one month skin contact in qvevri, after which it’s racked off to a clean qvevri for another 6 months with battonage, then moved to stainless steel and bottling. Very good.
Baias Wine 2023 Tsitska White Dry Wine Imereti (Bagdati) Like the Krakhuna, spends one month on the skins in qvevri. Clean citrus scents are followed by a mineral-dense, fresh palate with subtle citrus and orchard fruit. Finishes clean. Also, very good.
Baias Wine 2023 Tsolikouri Imereti (Bagdati) Light amber. Orchard fruit shows on the nose. Fresh in the mouth with nice firmness and lingering flavors of lemon and apple, finishing on a chalky note. Baia gave it less than one month skin contact. 12.6% alc. Very good.
Baias Wine 2021 Tsitska Tsolikouri Imereti (Bagdati) Medium yellow. An impressively fresh wine revealing dense yellow fruit and racy acidity. Made in qvevri with 30% skins for 2 months.
Baias Wine 2023 Tsitska Tsolikouri Krakhuna Imereti (Bagdati) This wine has the same fruit composition as PDO Sviri. There’s melon, pear and a hint of lemon on the nose that are mirrored on the palate. Mouthfilling with good acidity. The varieties are fermented sepaerately and blended before bottling.
Baias Wine 2023 Gvantsa’s Wine Alidasturi Rosé Imereti (Bagdati) Pale copper salmon. Rose petals and light red berry notes on the nose. Good volume and balance on a lightly flavored palate. Made direct press without destemming and fermented with native yeast in stainless steel. Very good.
Baias Wine 2022 Gvantsa’s Wine Aladasturi Imereti (Bagdati) Medium red, showing cranberry and light red cherry on the nose. Soft on the attack with a silky texture and light red fruit flavors. Long, clean finish. Very good. 11.7% alc.
Baias Wine 2022 Otskhanuri Sapere Imereti (Bagdati) Dark red. Aromas of herbs and dark plum fruit. Full in the mouth with a silky texture, excellent depth and some savory notes of herbs and tobacco leaf complement the fruit. Excellent.
Source : https://i-winereview.com/blog/index.php/2025/02/10/wines-of-imereti-baias-wine/
