A one-day wine trip to Kakheti from Tbilisi

Two routes

Two roads lead to Kakheti. Over the Gombori Pass (1,620 m) Telavi is about 95 km away, under two hours through the forest. The Kakheti highway goes via Sagarejo and Gurjaani. It takes about 40 minutes longer to Telavi but is the easy road to Sighnaghi. In winter or fog Gombori can be difficult, and drivers take the highway instead.

A loop works best. Take the highway to Sighnaghi and Bodbe in the morning, visit the valley wineries and Telavi in the afternoon, and come back over Gombori in the evening.

Tour

Kakheti wine day

1 day≈ 10 hfrom $275from €250from ₾720

What to see

• Sighnaghi, about 110 km from Tbilisi. A small hilltop town inside an 18th-century wall built by King Erekle II. The wall is 4 km long with 23 towers, and from it you see the whole Alazani Valley.
• Bodbe Monastery, 2 km from Sighnaghi. A working convent with the relics of St Nino, who brought Christianity to Georgia. Women should cover their hair and wear a skirt.
• Alaverdi Cathedral, 11th century. It is over 55 m tall and was the highest church in Georgia until 2004. The monastery makes its own wine.
• Tsinandali, about 10 km from Telavi. The estate of the Chavchavadze princes, with a park, a museum and an old wine cellar.
• Kvareli. The Khareba wine tunnel here is 7.7 km long and was cut into the rock in 1962. Inside it is 12 to 14 °C all year.
• If you have time left, add Gremi fortress (1565), Nekresi Monastery (6th century), the Ikalto academy and the 900-year-old plane tree in Telavi.

Qvevri wine and the harvest

Georgian wine is made in qvevri, large clay vessels buried in the ground. In 2013 the method was added to UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. At a family winery they will show you the qvevri and pour several wines. They will probably invite you to the table too.

Rtveli, the grape harvest, runs in Kakheti from about early September to mid-October. It is the best time to come. Many farms let guests pick and press grapes. A Georgian feast is called a supra. A tamada leads it and proposes the toasts.

Getting there and why to go with a driver

Minibuses to Sighnaghi leave Samgori bus station several times a day. They cost about 15 GEL and take 2 to 2.5 hours. Telavi minibuses leave Ortachala, cost 12 to 15 GEL and take 2 to 3 hours. The catch is that by minibus you only see one town a day.

The main reason to go with a driver is the tastings. Georgia's drink-drive limit is 0.3 per mille (0.03 per cent), so after a couple of glasses you cannot drive. With a driver you can taste in peace, and the car waits at every stop. See our full-day Kakheti wine tour. If you plan to stay the night, there is the Tbilisi to Kakheti transfer.