Kakheti

The oldest type of pottery found in Georgia belongs to the VI-V millennia BC, and the shape of today's Georgian qvevri dates to the III millennium BC. At the beginning of the 19th century viticulture and winemaking were important on Kakhetian princes' estates. Aleksandre Chavchavadze borrowed a million rubles from the bank in 1835 to improve the estates, and a large wine cellar with a laboratory for winemaking was built in the village of Tsinandali. Chavchavadze introduced European winemaking technology to Georgia at the beginning of the 19th century. The current Georgian wine industry was reborn after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Until 2006 the Russian market consumed 89% of the wines produced in Georgia; the Russian ban that year forced Georgian producers to improve quality while seeking new markets including Europe, the UK and Greater China.

• The National Wine Agency: "Qvevri wine-making started 8 thousand years ago in Georgia and this tradition is still preserved today."
• The Georgian traditional method of making qvevri wine received UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status in 2013
• The estate of Aleksandre Chavchavadze became prominent in the Mukuzani micro-zone at the beginning of the 19th century, and Mukuzani wine has been produced since 1888
• Until 1942 Kindzmarauli was made by a farmer method in which alcoholic fermentation stopped with the autumn-winter cold and resumed with spring warming; from 1942 government resolutions introduced a cooling method for semi-sweet wine, and Kindzmarauli has been produced since 1942

Kakheti lies in eastern Georgia, in the south-east of the country. The vineyards giving the best quality wines are in the Alazani and Iori basins at 400-700 m above sea level, on humus-carbonate, black and alluvial soils. In the National Wine Agency's view, among Georgian wines Kakhetian wine expresses soil properties most of all. Owing to its warmer climate and easier ripening conditions, Kakheti shows more evidence of skin and stem maceration.

• Tsinandali micro-zone: Telavi Municipality, on the right bank of the River Alazani, with vineyards at 350-700 m, annual precipitation of 845 mm and an average annual air temperature of 12.4°C
• Mukuzani micro-zone: Inner Kakheti, on the right bank of the River Alazani, with vineyards at 350-700 m; at night cold air masses flow down from the Caucasus glaciers
• Kindzmarauli micro-zone: within Kvareli municipality on the south slopes of a branch of the Caucasus Mountains, with vineyards at 250-550 m; annual precipitation there is 1070 mm
• Soils vary by micro-zone: brown soils in the upper part of Tsinandali and alluvial, alluvial-proluvial and deluvial-proluvial soils with deeper profiles, and alluvial and deluvial soils in Kindzmarauli

Saperavi is the most widespread grape variety in Kakheti, made as both qvevri and European-style wine and also used for pink and sparkling wines. Notable Kakheti varieties include Rkatsiteli, Kakhuri Mtsvane, Qisi, Khikhvi, Budeshuri, Mtsvivana, Saperavi, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Tavkveri and Ikalto Red. Rkatsiteli is Georgia's most planted, and most ancient, white grape, made in styles from modern to amber, dry to sweet, sparkling and fortified. In the modern style it tends toward citrus, apple, quince and subtle floral notes; in an amber style, depending on skin contact, toward marmalade, honey, caramel, white fig, stone fruits and sweet spices. For centuries Kakheti has made an original type of table wine, characterized by high extraction and a high content of phenolic compounds and tannins.

• Saperavi's name translates as "to dye" or "to colour with"; it is a teinturier variety with pink-coloured flesh and juice
• Tsinandali PDO white is dry, from Rkatsiteli (no less than 85%) and Mtsvane Kakhuri (no more than 15%); a dry red Tsinandali is made only from Saperavi
• Mukuzani PDO is a dry red made only from Saperavi; ageing is optional, and when used it takes place in wood barrels for no less than 6 months
• Kindzmarauli PDO is a naturally semi-sweet red from Saperavi and Saperavi Budeshuri, with a sugar content of 18-45 g/l
• Kakheti grapes are often fermented with their stems, which tends to give deep, savoury styles with firm tannins

Tsinandali Estate, in the village of Tsinandali in Telavi, keeps Alexander Chavchavadze's collection in its historic oenotheque: over 16,500 bottles of 70 wine varieties, including the Tsinandali Estate Saperavi of 1839, bottled in 1841, which the estate calls the oldest bottled wine in Georgia. Decanter's Darren Smith (2022) singles out Pheasant's Tears, the winery of American winemaker and artist John Wurdeman, among the wineries to explore from Sighnaghi, on a hilltop overlooking the Alazani Valley. Pheasant's Tears ferments and ages all of its wines in qvevri, adding the ripest stems to the skins, juice and pits for both reds and whites, with maceration lasting between 3 weeks and 6 months. Teliani Valley, started in 1997 by two young winemakers, has its cellar in Telavi and makes wines from 25 grape varieties grown in four Georgian winemaking regions.

• Tsinandali Estate keeps 100 bottles of each type of wine bottled in the Tsinandali cellar as exhibits in the historical enoteca; its Tsinandali Wine Museum also holds 19th-century Chateau Lafite, Chateau Margaux and Chateau d'Yquem
• Pheasant's Tears built its cellar in the vineyard itself so that harvested grapes are usually pressed and in qvevri within hours; some of its qvevri date back to the mid 19th century
• Half an hour's drive north from Sighnaghi, in Kardenakhi, Nikalas Marani owner Zurab Mgvdliashvili makes wines from Rkatsiteli, Mtsvane, Kisi, Saperavi and Khikhvi
• Pheasant's Tears also owns the Crazy Pomegranate restaurant in Tibaani, overlooking its vineyards

The National Wine Agency of Georgia is the applicant on the Tsinandali, Mukuzani and Kindzmarauli PDO specifications. Of the 25 aboriginal wines registered in Georgia, 19 belong to Kakheti, among them Tsinandali, Gurjaani, Vazisubani, Manavi, Kardanakhi, Tibaani, Kakheti, Kotekhi, Napareuli, Mukuzani, Teliani, Kindzmarauli, Akhasheni and Kvareli. Mukuzani (registration no. 2) and Tsinandali (no. 3) were registered on 30 August 2005, and Kindzmarauli (no. 787) on 30 March 2006. In 2021 Georgia had 29 registered Protected Designations of Origin.

• Tsinandali: yields of no more than 10 tonnes per hectare for Rkatsiteli and Saperavi and 8 tonnes for Kakhuri Mtsvane; grape sugar no less than 19% at harvest; the dry white needs no less than 11% factual alcohol and no more than 4 g/l of sugar
• Mukuzani: no more than 10 tons per hectare, grape sugar no less than 19% at harvest, and the wine reaches the consumer market only in bottles
• Kindzmarauli: grape sugar no less than 22% at harvest; processing and winemaking are permitted only within the Kakheti zone, while bottling may take place elsewhere in Georgia
• In 2014, 9.3 million bottles of Kindzmarauli were sold on international markets, 15.8% of total exports and 49% of the PDO wines sold

Kakheti is roughly an hour's drive east from Tbilisi. Sighnaghi, with its hilltop location overlooking the Alazani Valley, makes a base from which to explore local wineries and restaurants. In Kakheti qvevri are buried in the cellar, while in western Georgia wine is stored in hermetically sealed qvevri in the open air, and Kakheti is especially distinguished by large qvevri of 6-8 thousand liters.

• Qvevri sit underground in the marani (cellar) at the Nekresi Monastery in Kakheti
• Tsinandali Estate hosts the Tsinandali Festival, an international classical music festival

Primary sources (the National Wine Agency of Georgia and its Tsinandali, Mukuzani and Kindzmarauli PDO specifications, WSET, and producers' own sites for their own facts): https://wine.gov.ge/En/WineMakingRegions/1, https://wine.gov.ge/En/WineMakingRegions, https://wine.gov.ge/En/KvevriWine, https://wine.gov.ge/En/Files/Download/15312, https://wine.gov.ge/En/Files/Download/15310, https://wine.gov.ge/En/Files/Download/15317, https://tsinandaliestate.ge/things-to-do/oenotheque/, https://tsinandaliestate.ge/things-to-do/about-kakheti/, https://www.pheasantstears.com/winw-vineyard, https://telianivalley.com/en/story, https://telianivalley.com/en/wines-spirits/mukuzani, https://telianivalley.com/en/wines-spirits/saferavi-1, https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2023/july/05/exploring-georgian-wine-history-grape-varieties-styles-and-amber-wine. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/premium/georgian-wine-guide-plus-17-wines-worth-seeking-out-440952/, https://www.decanter.com/wine/from-qvevri-to-glass-the-fascinating-journey-of-georgian-orange-wine-570301/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-travel/georgia-top-three-destinations-for-wine-lovers-479075/. Last verified 2026-10-05