Kakheti, Georgia's wine country

What is Kakheti?

Kakheti (კახეთი) is a region in eastern Georgia, centred on the town of Telavi, that covers the Alazani and Iori valleys. It borders Russia to the north and east and Azerbaijan to the south-east, and it is made up of 8 municipalities, including Telavi, Sighnaghi, Kvareli and Akhmeta. On the ground, Kakheti means the wide Alazani valley, lined with vineyards, under the wall of the Greater Caucasus.

What is Kakheti famous for?

Kakheti is famous for its wine. About three quarters of Georgia’s vineyards are here, and so are many of the protected names in Georgian wine, among them Tsinandali, Mukuzani and Kindzmarauli. Winemakers here use both European methods and the traditional clay qvevri, a method UNESCO added to its intangible heritage list in 2013. Saperavi, the dark red grape, and Rkatsiteli, the white, are the region’s two main varieties.

Is Kakheti worth visiting?

Yes. It is an easy region to add to a stay in Tbilisi, about 2 hours away by road, and it puts wine, medieval monasteries and the Caucasus skyline within a short drive of each other. Two or three days cover the main sights at an easy pace.

What to do in Kakheti

The main things to do in Kakheti are walking the walls of Sighnaghi, the monasteries of Alaverdi, Gremi and Bodbe, a long lunch at a family cellar, and the drive south to David Gareja.

Walk Sighnaghi’s walls above the Alazani valley

Sighnaghi is a small hilltop town ringed by old defensive walls and towers, with views straight across the Alazani valley to the Greater Caucasus. Walk a section of the walls in the early evening, when the light is on the mountains.

Spend a morning in Telavi

Telavi is the regional centre and the practical base for the north side of the valley. Its old town holds the fortress palace of the Kakhetian kings, and Alaverdi and Tsinandali are a short drive away.

See Tsinandali, the Chavchavadze estate

Tsinandali is the former estate of the Chavchavadze family, now a museum with a landscaped park and an old wine cellar. The name is also a protected white wine appellation, made from Rkatsiteli and Mtsvane grapes.

Stand inside Alaverdi Cathedral

Alaverdi Cathedral was built in the 11th century and rises alone from the vineyards north of Telavi. The monks still make wine here, in a cellar dated to between the 10th and 12th centuries.

Climb to Gremi

Gremi was the capital of the Kingdom of Kakheti in the 16th and 17th centuries. What stands today is the hilltop Church of the Archangels, built in 1565 and painted inside by 1577, with its tower and walls above the road near Kvareli.

Pay respects at Bodbe Monastery

Bodbe Monastery, just below Sighnaghi, is the burial place of Saint Nino, who brought Christianity to Georgia, and it is a working convent. Dress for a church visit: covered shoulders and knees, and a headscarf for women.

Eat and drink at a family marani

A marani is a wine cellar, and in Kakheti many families still make their own wine in qvevri and serve it at their own table. The simplest way to taste here is with someone else driving, and Kakheti wine tours from Tbilisi differ mainly in group size, how many cellars you visit and whether lunch is included. Ask before you go whether a meal is part of the visit, because a Kakheti cellar lunch is a long one.

Drive to David Gareja

David Gareja is a cave monastery complex founded in the 6th century, cut into the half-desert slopes on the edge of the Iori plateau, about 100 km south-east of Tbilisi by road. Part of the complex sits on the border with Azerbaijan. The walk above the monastery passes cave churches with medieval wall paintings.

Kakheti’s wine, explained

Kakheti makes its reds mainly from Saperavi and its whites from Rkatsiteli and Mtsvane, in steel tanks and in clay qvevri buried in the cellar floor. Family cellars still make wine in qvevri, and our page on wineries to visit in Kakheti sets out what to check before you go: whether you need to book, what a tasting includes and whether they serve food.

What kind of wine is Kakheti known for?

Kakheti is known for dry and semi-sweet reds from Saperavi, such as Mukuzani (dry) and Kindzmarauli (semi-sweet), and for whites from Rkatsiteli. Whites made in qvevri with their skins come out amber, with more grip than a European white.

Which grapes grow in Kakheti?

Saperavi is the main red grape, and Rkatsiteli, Mtsvane Kakhuri, Kisi and Khikhvi are the main whites. Cabernet Sauvignon also grows here.

What is qvevri wine?

Qvevri wine is fermented and aged in qvevri, large egg-shaped clay jars buried up to the neck in the cellar floor, which keeps the wine at a steady cool temperature. For white grapes, the skins often stay in with the juice, which gives the amber colour. UNESCO inscribed the method on its intangible heritage list in 2013.

When is the Kakheti harvest?

The Kakheti harvest, called rtveli, usually starts in early September, earlier after a hot summer, and peaks from mid September to mid October. Exact dates move with each year’s weather, so check before you fix a trip around it.

Where to base yourself: Telavi, Sighnaghi or Kvareli?

Base in Sighnaghi for views and an evening walk, in Telavi for the monasteries and estates on the north side of the valley, and in Kvareli for Gremi and the foot of the mountains. Sighnaghi is the closest of the three to Bodbe and is on the faster highway from Tbilisi. Telavi is the regional centre and the largest of the three towns. Kvareli sits at the foot of the Greater Caucasus.

How many days do you need in Kakheti?

Two to three days cover Kakheti well: one side of the valley each day, with a cellar lunch on at least one of them. A day trip from Tbilisi works if you choose one side, Sighnaghi and Bodbe or Telavi and Alaverdi, rather than trying to see both.

How to get from Tbilisi to Kakheti

By car or with a driver, Kakheti is about 2 hours from Tbilisi. The road to Telavi over the Gombori pass takes about 1 hour 50 minutes, and the lower road through Sagarejo and Gurjaani adds about 40 minutes. Sighnaghi is 1.5 to 2 hours by the Kakheti highway. Minibuses run to both towns from Tbilisi bus stations, but they are slower and fixed to their timetable. If you plan to taste wine, do not plan to drive: book a driver.

Bookable picks in Kakheti

If you want the day planned, our picks are on the shortlists of Kakheti wine tours and wineries to visit in Kakheti; for a harvest day or a longer trip, start below.

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  Join Rtveli, the harvest

  Rtveli, the Georgian grape harvest: when it happens and three harvest days you can book, compared.

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  A week that starts in the vineyards

  Three multi-day wine and food tours of Georgia compared on price, nights, cellars, meals and when each one runs.

Kakheti beyond wine

Beyond wine, Kakheti has protected forest and desert at opposite corners of the region, and the only road up to Tusheti.

Lagodekhi’s forests and waterfalls

Lagodekhi, in the far east of Kakheti, is a protected area of forest and waterfalls on the slopes of the Greater Caucasus, with marked trails from the town.

Vashlovani’s badlands

Vashlovani, in the dry south-east of Kakheti, is a protected area of semi-desert and eroded badlands, a world away from the vineyards.

The road to Tusheti starts here

Tusheti, the high mountain corner of Kakheti’s Akhmeta municipality, is reached by a single road over the Abano pass at 2,826 metres. The road is closed by snow from about mid October to mid June.

When to visit Kakheti

Visit Kakheti in September and October for the harvest, or in May and June for green vineyards and long evenings. July and August are hot in the valley, and winter is quiet.