Kondo Vineyard KonKon Kvevri 2019 750ml

Two weeks into the 2019 ferment, Georgian qvevri makers visited the Kondo cellar, and their advice cut the time on skins to three weeks, shorter than any konkon kvevri before it.

The Kondos call 2019 a bumper year: both of their farms gave record crops. The fruit came 57 percent from the Tap-Kop farm on a steep slope in Mikasa and 43 percent from the Moseushi farm in Kurisawa, Iwamizawa, both in the Sorachi district of Hokkaido, grown by Ryosuke and Tomoko Kondo. The producer lists eight varieties from the mixed-planted blocks: Pinot Gris, Auxerrois, Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Kerner, Pinot Meunier and Sylvaner. Picking ran from 14 to 17 October. No chemical fertiliser or herbicide; the spray record shows eight Bordeaux-mixture treatments, one fungicide and one insecticide.

It was also the first year two large Georgian qvevri were filled at once, one for each farm's mixed block, with the two blended at the end. Grapes were destemmed through a net, crushed with a roller and punched down once a day. The visitors, according to Tokyo Wine Shop Guide, were John Wurdeman of Pheasant's Tears, who had arranged Kondo's qvevri with the craftsman, John Okro of Okro's Wines and Shota Lagazidze, invited to Japan by their importer Reiko Okazaki. They tasted the wines in progress, and the producer says they pointed to possible gaps in how the vessels were prepared before filling and to the risks of a long maceration. So the main ferment ended after three weeks on skins; the wine spent a short spell in plastic tank, then three months in barrel. Kondo notes that this is very close to how konkon was made before 2015. The producer lists it as unfiltered and unfined. Bottled on 12 September 2020: 1,243 bottles.

In the glass

The producer warns that some gas remains at first and suggests opening the bottle the day before, or a few hours ahead, and serving it at red-wine temperature so the aromas of the many varieties fill out. Readers expecting a classic Georgian amber wine may be surprised, they write: the acidity is high-toned, closer to a northern white, with skin character building on the back palate. Their December 2023 note: apricot and orange, fine tannin, smooth, a long finish with a little spice.

When to open

The producer's window is 2023 to 2027, and their 2023 note says drink now through 2026. It stays good for several days after opening. Our bottle carries visible sediment, so stand it upright first.

At the table

Our suggestion: yakitori with salt, roast chicken, or soft washed-rind cheese.

Quick facts

Provenance

Sourced from a local distributor in Japan.

Sources: Kondo Vineyard (kondo-vineyard.com: konkon kvevri 2019 page and About page); Tokyo Wine Shop Guide (2020)