WELCOME TO GEORGIA
Welcome to the cradle of wine
Adjara
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Guria
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Imereti
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Kakheti
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Kartli
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Lechkhumi
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Meskheti
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Racha
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Samegrelo
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Adjara ✶ Guria ✶ Imereti ✶ Kakheti ✶ Kartli ✶ Lechkhumi ✶ Meskheti ✶ Racha ✶ Samegrelo ✶
About Georgian wine
Since 1991 – and Georgia’s full independence – the country’s wine scene has mirrored the progress and confidence of this creative, poetic, dynamic and exuberant nation. Georgian wine exports to the UK – and other key markets – are booming.
Explore this site for information and resources on Georgian wine: where to buy it, how to enjoy it, and Georgian wine news and events in the UK.
A Brief History
This small country, of high mountains and huge hearts, has an unbroken wine making heritage of 8,000 years. ‘Mother Georgia’ – the symbolic statue of the nation that overlooks the capital city – is pictured holding a wine cup and a sword. Georgia is a country of wine, of poetry, of fierce spirit, of plucky scrum halves, and of sublime food. Wine is in the blood. But Georgia’s strategic location – on the silk route, bounded by powerful and sometimes covetous neighbours – has interrupted her undoubted potential for making world-class wine. Read On →
Grape Varieties
Georgian grape names are nearly always descriptive of their appearance or flavour, reflecting the historic widespread viticulture of the country. Georgia has at least 500 native varieties, but most were almost wiped out during Soviet times, when consolidation and efficiency replaced the naturally diverse, regional and individualistic Georgian wine culture. Today, around 45 varieties are commercially produced, but the Georgian government is on a mission to save and reintroduce the old grapes. In summer 2014, the National Wine Agency started by giving over 7,000 plants of ‘obscure’ varieties to growers around the region, and this had steadily increased over subsequent years. Read On →
Find Georgian Wine
Georgia has 8000 vintages under her belt, but not much more than 8 years of exporting to the UK market. In the last 5 years, the availability of Georgian wine in the UK has soared, as major importers add Georgian wines to their portfolio, and as wine merchants, and online and physical wine shops stock Georgian wine. The diversity and range of Georgian wine available in the UK is expanding rapidly. Find a Stockist →
The PDOs
Georgia’s Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) wines highlight its rich winemaking heritage. Tsinandali is a dry white with citrus notes, while Mukuzani is a bold, oak-aged red. Kindzmarauli and Khvanchkara are naturally semi-sweet reds, the former with berry-chocolate flavors and the latter with cherry-spice notes. Napareuli produces both dry reds and whites, Tvishi is a semi-sweet white with peach and honey flavors, and Kakheti represents Georgia’s traditional qvevri-fermented amber wine with dried fruit and nutty notes. Each PDO wine showcases Georgia’s diverse viticultural legacy. Read On →
Featured news & articles
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Fantastic Saperavi
Nowadays, Saperavi wines from Georgia are available for purchase and taste in the different corners of the United Kingdom. To help you pick a truly good bottle to taste, we at Georgian Wine UK want to share a short but sweet shopping list and Saperavi essentials with you curious wine drinkers!
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Our newest stockist:
266 Wines
33 Bedford St, London WC2E 9ED266 is an importer of wine established in 2019. The team consists of founder Ben and his two business partners plus their amazing back office help. They purposefully avoid dogma in terms of wine style, instead looking for bottles that they feel are authentic expressions of the place and people that create them. They focus on smaller growers who farm their vineyards with care and respect for the environment but most importantly, offer quality, value, and uniqueness to our customers.
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Don’t call them amphorae:
While ‘amphora wine’ is increasingly common as a term for wines made in clay, calling a qvevri an ‘amphora’ will have you corrected by a Georgian. (Quite sharply: they revere them.) Amphorae were the shopping bags of the ancient world: portable and designed for transportation. Qvevri hold more craft, intent and significance. They are original wine engineering: designed using (probably) empirical science to craft stable, balanced, and delicious wine.
The craftsmanship of making Qvevri is compelling. Soil is dug from sites whose suitability has been established over time. This fresh soil is seasoned outside, and filtered to remove stones, sticks and leaves, and milled fine when the clay texture shows itself.
