The birthplace of wine

Georgia holds one of the oldest unbroken winemaking traditions on Earth, with evidence of viticulture near Tbilisi dating back 8,000 years — pre-dating both France and Italy by millennia. The country's 500+ indigenous grape varieties (including Rkatsiteli, Saperavi, Mtsvane, and Chinuri) grow across three distinct wine zones. Kakheti, in the east, produces roughly 70 percent of Georgian wine, with Telavi as its main hub and the villages of Tsinandali, Kvareli, and Napareuli each lending their names to celebrated appellations. The region's defining method is qvevri fermentation: grapes — skins, seeds, and stems included — ferment underground in large clay amphorae for six months, producing the amber-hued, tannic whites that have made Georgian natural wine famous among sommeliers from London to Tokyo. Kartli, the central plateau around Gori and Mtskheta, specialises in lighter, higher-altitude wines from Chinuri and Goruli Mtsvane grapes. In the west, Imereti produces wines by a partial-skin-contact method called kakhetian-light, using just 10–30% of grape solids rather than 100%, yielding a more delicate style. The Racha-Lechkhumi region, north of Kutaisi, grows Khvanchkara grapes on steep terraced slopes above 800 m to produce the naturally semi-sweet red that was allegedly Stalin's favourite wine. Vineyard visits are straightforward: most Kakhetian wineries accept walk-in guests, and the signposted Wine Road connects Tbilisi to Sighnaghi (115 km) through walnut groves and ancient monasteries. October brings harvest festivals in every village, with communal grape-treading in stone troughs called satsnakheli — one of the most participatory agricultural traditions remaining in Europe.