Rkatsiteli
Template:Short description Template:Infobox grape variety
Rkatsiteli (Template:IPAc-en; Template:Lang-ka; literally "red stem" or "red horned") is a kind of grape used to produce white wine.
HistoryEdit
This ancient vinifera originates in Georgia and is supposed to be one of the oldest grape varieties.<ref name="Robinson pg 260">J. Robinson Vines, Grapes & Wines pg 260 Mitchell Beazley 1986 Template:ISBN</ref>
Rkatsiteli was the most widely planted grape variety in the Soviet Union and, by 1978, was responsible for 18% of all Soviet wine production.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> There it was used to make everything from table wine to liqueurs to Sherry-like fortified wine. Before President Gorbachev's vine pull scheme, it was possibly the world's most widely planted white wine grape.<ref name=OCW-Rkatsiteli>winepros.com.au. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In Kakheti it was particularly known for its sweet dessert wines fashioned in the same manner as port wine. There were many attempts to create a sparkling wine from the grape, but its naturally high alcohol levels prevented it from being much of a success.<ref name="Robinson pg 260"/>
Wine regionsEdit
The grape is mostly planted in its ancestral home of Georgia, though there are still sizable plantings in other Eastern European countries like Russia, Armenia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, and North Macedonia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.<ref name="Robinson pg 260"/>
Other regionsEdit
It is also planted, in small amounts, in Australia and the eastern United States, mainly in the Finger Lakes region of New York state, Massachusetts, New Jersey and in Virginia and North Carolina.<ref>Wine 101 - Rkatsiteli WineCompass</ref> There have also been some experimental plantings in California, the Grand Valley AVA and West Elks AVA of Colorado and China (where the grape is known as Baiyu).<ref name="Robinson pg 260"/>
ViticultureEdit
The high acidity of the grape is prone to make the wines excessively tart, so winemakers try to pick the grapes as late as possible to maximize the sugar balance to offset the acidity. In most regions of Eastern Europe harvest is typically in mid-October.<ref name="Robinson pg 260"/>
Wine styleEdit
Rkatsiteli makes a noticeably acidic, balanced white wine with spicy and floral notes in the aroma.<ref name="Robinson pg 260"/>