wine and unglazed ceramic teaware

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LeoFox
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Thu Sep 24, 2020 10:33 am

Historically, unglazed pots were often used as vessels for wine. Wine has been stored/aged, decanted and drank from earthenware for millennia. Here is an example of storage/aging wine in earthenware vessels that is still practiced:
Kvevri (Georgian: ქვევრი [kʰvɛvri]; also known as churi (ჭური) in Western Georgia) are large earthenware vessels used for the fermentation, storage and ageing of traditional Georgian wine. Resembling large, egg-shaped amphorae without handles, they are either buried below ground or set into the floors of large wine cellars. Kvevris vary in size: volumes range from 20 litres to around 10,000; 800 is typical.

The villages of Atsana in Guria; Makatubani, Shrosha, Tq'emlovana and Chkhiroula in Imereti; and Vardisubani in Kakheti are traditional kvevri-making areas. Artisanal families have passed down the knowledge of this ancient handicraft through the generations. The clay used to manufacture a Kvevri must be carefully chosen, as its characteristics will influence the wine's mineral content.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kvevri

I have tried some of this type of wine a few years ago. They were young white wines that had developed dry sherry characteristics: Fino style sherry brightness, rich nuttiness and a damp earthiness that i usually don't get from young european wines.

Has anyone tried using unglazed teaware for wine? For example, can a yixing pot be used as a mini decanter for wine? Can we even devote specific pots to specific wines to get seasoning effects?

Here is an old thread from wine spectator forum that touches on the subject:

https://forums.winespectator.com/topic/ ... ect-tannin


Also Hojo has this comment in his blog that mentions the effect of purple clay not only on wine but also coffee and beer:
Purple clay can change the taste of any kind of drink into a softer, smoother, mellower taste and enhance the flavor. In precise it slightly reduce aroma, yet drastically increase flavor.

You may surprise that it is even able to change the taste of wine. When you pour wine into the purple clay, it definitely changes the taste of the wine into a very smooth and mellow feel. Of course decanting itself makes wine oxidized and that changes taste too. But the changes I am referring is beyond the extent of normal decanting. In fact, silver also known to change the taste of tea and therefore there are silver kettle and teapot available. In old days, wine was consumed from silver ware. I assume it is not only fashion, but also because people knew of its effect.

It also works well with coffee. It becomes smoother and mellower. If you are used to the taste of coffee served in a purple clay cup, you will not be able to enjoy the coffee served in a normal cup any more. In fact, red clay gives even better effect on coffee.

Do you know what will happen if you try drinking beer from a purple clay tea cup? It induces a lot of fine bubbles and eventually the taste becomes too smooth and mellow. It was a terrible experience for me. I do not think there is anyone who can enjoy the smooth taste of beer. It tastes like expired beer.
https://hojotea.com/item_e/purpleclay.htm

I think his comment on beer is interesting: that the clay can make beer smooth and mellow but also flat. This makes me think these ceramic cups might be suitable for aged barley-wine or certain Belgian styles of beer that are not very bubbly, and where any amount of bubbles is almost a distraction.

I am interested in hearing from other people here about this.
Last edited by LeoFox on Thu Sep 24, 2020 1:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Victoria
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Thu Sep 24, 2020 1:47 pm

I enjoyed watching this video recently Qvevri: les vins de Georgie. Would love to try the wine in situ. I read that Hojo post and for a second considered using one of my Banko kyusu with wine but then decided I really didn’t want to mess up the kyusu and have to reset it.
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LeoFox
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Thu Sep 24, 2020 3:32 pm

Victoria wrote:
Thu Sep 24, 2020 1:47 pm
I enjoyed watching this video recently Qvevri: les vins de Georgie. Would love to try the wine in situ. I read that Hojo post and for a second considered using one of my Banko kyusu with wine but then decided I really didn’t want to mess up the kyusu and have to reset it.
Wonderful video! Thank you for sharing.

Instead of messing up a kyusu, one could use a banko yunomi
.m.
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Fri Sep 25, 2020 2:07 pm

Some remarks:
- the process of making of kvevri wine is quite specific, in particular the wine is aged on skins for like 6 months
- the clay from which kvevri jars are made is said to be rich in limestone and contain traces of silver, different clays would likely produce different results
- my experience with drinking from yixing cups has been terrible so far: in both cases the unglazed clay didn't feel nice in contact with lips, plus the shape had no "lip" which also made the liquor taste more "flat".
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