Amphora and clay wines: 20 ancient and modern styles to seek out

Wines fermented and/or aged in clay vessels have seen an important revival in the last couple of decades, largely thanks to the rediscovery of the winemaking traditions of Georgia and to prominent producers, such as Joško Gravner in northeast Italy, themselves inspired by visits to the Caucasus.

This led to a close, almost inevitable, association between clay vessels and low-intervention, skin-fermented white wines. The natural wine movement embraced amphora wine as a category of its own and soon enough qvevri were on every hipster’s social media feed.

Scroll down for notes and scores for 20 amphora and clay wines

Making wine in clay containers is not, however, synonymous with low intervention or extended macerations. Following the hype of the early 2000s, many winemakers – from natural fanatics to technology-driven orthodox – have experimented with clay vessels as yet another option in their toolkit. This diversity is shown in the selection that follows; clay is used by winemakers with very different profiles, backgrounds and approaches, to produce myriad styles of wine.

Managing air and heat

Clay vessels have been used to ferment, store and transport wine for millennia. Chemical analysis of neolithic jars found in Georgia and dated back to between 5,800 BC and 6,000 BC show that these jars were used by the world’s earliest-known winemakers.

Across the Mediterranean, amphorae were widely used by Greek, Iberian, Lusitanian, Phoenician and Carthaginian civilisations to transport and trade wine, and remained the vessels of choice after Roman occupation.

Because terracotta is porous, wines stored in clay vessels were vulnerable to oxidation; to avoid spoilage, amphorae were coated with a protective interior layer of pine resin. Modern amphorae, on the other hand, are sometimes lined with epoxy resin instead, thereby avoiding the transference of aromas and flavours.

Purists will say, however, that the very essence of clay winemaking is playing with oxidation and embracing the mild protection – and specific aromas – of a natural resin. Temperature control is another challenge. Georgian qvevri are buried, which provides a natural solution to this problem. The same is not true elsewhere – especially on the Iberian peninsula, where the use of clay vessels is also noteworthy – which motivated the development of modern amphorae with built-in temperature management.

Wine in clay: A glossary

Amphora (plural: amphorae)

Latin word, of Greek origin, for vessels with two handles, commonly used for earthenware containers of variable dimensions used to store and transport goods, including wine, in ancient times.

To protect the liquid from oxidation the amphorae were often lined with pine resin, a process that ultimately gave birth to Greek retsina wines. Today, amphorae come in many shapes and sizes, and incorporate a wide range of technological enhancements.

Many of the modern iterations are lined with epoxy resin and have inbuilt temperature control systems. (The term is also used for amphora-shaped cement vessels, which were not considered in this article’s selection).

Qvevri (plural: qvevri)

Georgian clay vessels, also known as churi in the west of the country, used for wine fermentation and storage (the reds are often transferred to oak barrels post fermentation). Qvevri can vary greatly in size and, unlike their Iberian counterparts, are buried underground for natural temperature control and structural stability. In 2013, qvevri winemaking was recognised as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.

Talha (plural: talhas)

The term used in Portugal to describe clay vessels, usually of imposing dimensions, introduced in Roman times for wine production.

The tradition remained uninterrupted, if overlooked, in a handful of villages in the Alentejo region for more than 2,000 years. A new generation of winemakers is taking important and quick steps to revive and reinterpret talha winemaking. ‘Vinho de Talha’ is a protected style within the Alentejo DOC and is regulated by specific guidelines.

Wines must be fermented in talhas or potes (clay vessels smaller than talhas); the clay vessels must be glazed (either with epoxy or the traditional ‘pez’, a mix of beeswax, pine resin and olive oil); all grapes must be destemmed; and the must, skins and seeds must remain inside the fermentation vessels until at least 11 November of the harvest year. Additionally, the removal of the skins and seeds and the bottling of the wines are subject to technical approval and assessment by the Alentejo wine authority CVRA.

Tinaja (plural: tinajas)

Talha’s sibling term in neighbouring Spain, also used in Chile, where tinajas were first brought by colonisers. They are mostly found in La Mancha, Valdepeñas and Montilla-Moriles, in Spain, and in Bío Bío and Itata in Chile, although there’s growing interest in other regions. Due to aspects of the clay and kilning expertise, some tinajas have a thin glaze and therefore do not require coating.

Again, there are different schools of thought: some will say the beauty of producing wine in clay is working with the temperature fluctuations of a cellar; a more technical view has happily embraced newly designed amphorae with temperature control systems.

These differences are not merely a matter of philosophy; they have a direct impact on the wines produced and on how clay vessels are approached as a winemaking tool. If accepted as a porous material subject to temperature fluctuations, the use of amphorae is not dissimilar to that of wood: oxygen, time and atmospheric conditions play an integral part in the development and profile of the wine. If lined with epoxy and fitted with temperature control systems, amphorae become quasi-inert vessels.

Societal links

Most, if not all, of the wines tasted and selected for this article fall under the former of those two approaches. That’s an intentional choice, given that ‘amphora wines’ – a category that’s loosely defined among professionals and consumers – refers to wines in which the porosity and thermal conductivity of fired clay is perceptible in the final wine.

It’s also a ‘narrative’ choice: many of the wines featured are made by producers who have invested significant time and effort to support the local craftsmen who produce the amphorae used, and to preserve winemaking traditions that were, in many cases, almost forgotten.

These wines tell stories well beyond the confines of the wineries in which they were vinified. And this surely helps to stimulate the enduring fascination with wines made in clay – a textural material associated with myth, history and Instagram reels from sunny holiday destinations.

See notes and scores for 20 amphora and clay wines

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