In the small town of Sighnakhi, in the Kakheti region of eastern Georgia, John Okruashvili has been bottling his own wine called Okro's Wine since 2009.
Like many other producers in Georgia, the focus of the winemaking is on a passion for the ancient rituals of winemaking. Today, "Joni" Okro is one of the most respected natural wine producers in Kakheti, where it concentrates on traditional amber wines with long maceration on the skins and small production runs.
His Kakheti wines are produced from cool, high-altitude vineyards rather than the warmer plains. His wines retain freshness and vitality and have a level of concentration rarely seen. He also works with grapes from Kartli and Imereti. All of John's wines are completely natural - no sulphites are used in them.
Mtsvane wine is made for two months on skins without stems, fermented in kvevri and then decanted into pure kvevri.
The soft wine has an aroma with notes of savoury spices and paprika showing over pineapple and honeyed walnut flavours. The flavour is savoury but tart, medium full and quite delightful with pronounced tones of cranberry, peeled carambola and tropical acidity.