Georgia is known for its winemaking traditions: here you can try wine from a wide variety of grape varieties, and, by Russian standards, it will not be expensive. Wines are produced both by small wineries located in ordinary village houses, and by large factories that use advanced technologies in production. Most of them can be visited to taste drinks and get acquainted with the process of their production. We have selected several wine tourism destinations in different parts of the country.
Tears of Pheasant Winery, Sighnaghi
Website: pheasantstears.com
Location
Known for producing natural wine using ancient Georgian technologies, the Pheasant’s Tears winery is located in the city of Sighnaghi in the Kakheti region. It produces wine from nine grape varieties, and no preservatives are used in its production. The drink is aged not in oak barrels, in the belief that they hide the true taste of the wine, but in qvevri jugs dug into the soil to minimize the loss of the grapes’ taste qualities. A visit to the wine cellar and tasting will cost 20 GEL per person, but the tour is possible for a minimum of four people. On the territory of the winery there is also a restaurant with traditional Georgian cuisine.
Iago Cellar, Mtskheta
Location
Iago Bitarashvili’s cellar is a private winery located in the village of Chardakhi in the vicinity of the city of Mtskheta. It is an ordinary village house with vineyards in the distance. There are two types of wine here: red dry “Saperavi” and white dry “Chinuri”. Just like in “Tears of a Pheasant”, it is produced in qvevri, trying to practically not use modern technologies and without adding preservatives. You can get to the village of Chardakhi from Tbilisi by minibus from the Didube bus station, and any local resident can tell you the way to the cellar.
Chateau Mukhrani Winery, Mtskheta
Website: chateaumukhrani.com
Location
The Chateau Mukhrani winery, restored on the basis of a 19th-century palace, is located 25 kilometers from Tbilisi. You can get to it by any minibus going from the Didube bus station towards Gori – however, you will have to walk through the village of Mukhani. Chateau Mukhrani produces 13 varieties of wine and chacha – some of them are quite rare. Tasting four varieties will cost 35 GEL (860 rubles) per person, but it is worth considering that you need to sign up for the wine tour in advance.
Winery “Hareba”, Kvareli
Website: winery-khareba.com
Location
The Khareba wine company owns two factories, but it is most famous for the seven-kilometer warehouse tunnel carved into the rock, where about 25 thousand bottles of wine are stored – however, only the first 300 meters of the tunnel are accessible to tourists. During the tour, you can taste the drinks that the company produces and listen to stories about winemaking traditions. Tasting two wines produced using European technology will cost 12 lari (290 rubles) per person, and wines from qvevri jugs will cost 15 (370 rubles). The tunnel is located in Kvareli, a small town in Kakheti.
Kindzmarauli Corporation, Kvareli
Website: kindzmaraulicorporation.ge
Location
Another place in Kvareli where you can taste wines is located in the very center of the city. This is a large plant that produces the famous semi-sweet wine “Kindzmarauli”. On its territory there are wine storage facilities, a wine shop, a tasting room, a museum sector and a restaurant. You can try wines for free – usually guests are offered 4-5 varieties.
Bagrationi 1882 Factory, Tbilisi
Website: bagrationi.ge
Location
Bagrationi 1882 is the leading sparkling wine factory in Georgia and one of the largest wineries in the capital. When making the drink, both traditional methods and modern technologies are used here. At the factory you can take a tour where they will show you how sparkling wine is produced and offer to taste the products.
Chateau-Zegaani winery, Zegaani
Website: chateau-zegaani.com
Location
The wine estate “Chateau-Zegaani”, built at the beginning of the 19th century, is located in the village of Zegaani in Kakheti. The wines here are produced in accordance with traditions and aged in qvevri. A tour of the estate includes a tour of the cellars, storage facilities and wine bottling department, as well as a visit to the cognac production and tasting.
Shumi Factory, Tsinandali
Site: shumi.ge
Location
The small Shumi factory, which produces five or six varieties of wine, is located on the outskirts of the village of Tsinandali in Kakheti – you can get here from the city of Telavi by minibus. It is not so popular among tourists, so you can enjoy a free tasting here in a relaxed atmosphere. Visitors are served four glasses of wine, cognac, port or chacha. The distillery also houses a museum, a tasting terrace and a shop.
Text author: Yana Kasatkina
