Wine & Chacha

★★★ Georgian Wine — 8,000 Years of Tradition

Georgia is the oldest wine country in the world. Archaeological findings prove winemaking from 8,000 years ago — thousands of years before the first grape was pressed in France or Italy. The country has over 525 native grape varieties (for comparison: France has about 200).

The Qvevri Method

What makes Georgian wine unique is the Qvevri method (UNESCO World Heritage): Grapes are placed with skins, seeds, and stems in egg-shaped clay vessels (Qvevri, 500–3,000 liters), buried up to the neck in the earth. There, the wine ferments for 5–6 months at a constant earth temperature. The result: the characteristic amber wine — amber-colored, tannin-rich, and complex.

Grape Varieties

• Saperavi: THE red grape variety of Georgia. Strong, deep red, tannin-rich. The "Cabernet of the Caucasus".
• Rkatsiteli: The most important white grape variety. As amber wine (with skin contact) complex and tannin-rich, as European style fresh and fruity.
• Kindzmarauli: Semi-sweet red wine from Saperavi — the favorite wine of many Georgians. Fruity and accessible.
• Tsinandali: Dry white wine — Georgia's "classic" in the European style.
• Mukuzani: Dry, oak-aged Saperavi. Georgia's "great red".

★★ Chacha (ჭაჭა)

Georgia's grape brandy — comparable to Grappa, but stronger (40–65%). Every family distills their own Chacha (technically illegal, practically tolerated). It is drunk ice-cold as a digestif, often at a Supra. Caution: It often tastes milder than it is.

Try it at markets and in restaurants. Professional brands: Askaneli, Teliani Valley, Chateau Mukhrani.

Beer & Lemonade

• Kazbegi / Natakhtari: The most popular Georgian beer brands. Decent lager beer.
• Craft Beer: The craft beer scene is booming in Tbilisi: Black Lion, Argo, Shavi Lomi Brewing.
• Lemonade: Georgian lemonade (Tarkhun = tarragon, green; Saperavi = grape, red; Lagidze = traditional syrup lemonade) is an experience — sweet, fizzy, kitschy-colorful, and wonderfully refreshing.