Georgian Fine Wine

Georgia lays claim to being the birthplace of wine, with over 8,000 years of winemaking history. In recent decades, the country’s emergence from Soviet mass production has seen it reclaim its ancient traditions via the production of authentic, terroir-driven wines. Central to this revival has been the use of qvevri – large, clay vessels buried underground and used for ageing wine in a uniquely Georgian manner, to produce wines of notable texture, depth and character.

Georgia boasts a bewildering array of native grape varieties, many of them not found anywhere else. Among the most notable is Saperavi, a deeply coloured red which, unusually, has coloured juice, and produces bold, structured, ageworthy wines with flavours of black fruit and spicy, earthy undertones. Among the various wine regions, the most prominent is Kakheti in the east, home to many top producers who practise traditional qvevri winemaking.