Georgia for wine lovers: a 7-day itinerary through Kakheti, Kartli, Imereti and Racha with the cellars to book

The most efficient way to taste Georgia’s wine country without retracing your steps is a loop that starts and ends in Tbilisi and takes in Kakheti, Kartli, Imereti and Racha in turn, each region built on a different grape and a different way of making wine. Kakheti gives you the classic qvevri reds and ambers (Saperavi, Rkatsiteli); Kartli adds Chateau-style blends and the native Chinuri; Imereti shows the lighter, half-buried qvevri method with Tsitska and Tsolikouri; and Racha closes the loop with the naturally semi-sweet Khvanchkara and mountain vineyards above 600 metres. Seven days is enough to visit six to eight cellars at a civilised pace, see a qvevri being made, and still have two evenings free for Tbilisi’s natural-wine bars.

This guide gives a day-by-day route with specific estates and the tours we run to each one, honest notes on Rtveli (harvest) timing, and the customs reality of getting bottles home. Distances are real: Kakheti is roughly two hours from Tbilisi, Kartli under an hour, Imereti and Racha four to six hours further west, so this is a driving trip best done with a private driver or as one of our ready-made tours rather than self-drive after tastings. If you would rather book the whole loop as one package, our Georgian Wine Grand Tour runs a similar route across eight days and five regions; everything below can also be booked day by day.

The seven-day route at a glance

Days 1 to 3: Kakheti, the heartland of qvevri wine

Kakheti produces roughly two-thirds of Georgia’s commercial wine and is where the qvevri method, fermenting and ageing wine in buried clay vessels, is most visible to visitors. Start with the Tsinandali estate for its 19th-century library and garden, then move to a working marani for a tasting that compares a modern, European-style white against a skin-contact amber Rkatsiteli; the Kakheti Estates Day tour pairs Tsinandali with Shumi and a seated lunch. On day three, push further north and east to Nekresi’s hillside basilica, the fortified wine town of Gremi, and Kvareli, using the Eastern Kakheti route, and fit in a qvevri workshop with a craftsman who still fires the vessels by hand, a tradition recognised by UNESCO as part of Georgia’s intangible cultural heritage. Our Qvevri Masterclass spends a full day with both a winemaker and a qvevri maker, which is the clearest way to understand why the clay, the firing, and the beeswax lining matter as much as the grape.

Day 4: Kartli, chateau style and the native Chinuri

Kartli, the region around Tbilisi and Mtskheta, is less visited than Kakheti but worth the detour for contrast. Chateau Mukhrani was rebuilt as a 19th-century royal estate and makes European-style blends alongside qvevri wine, while smaller cellars nearby work almost exclusively with Chinuri, a crisp native white suited to both still and sparkling production. The Kartli Wine Day tour covers both in a single seven-hour outing from Tbilisi, so it slots neatly between a Kakheti morning and a Kutaisi-bound afternoon if your schedule is tight, or stands as a relaxed half-day on its own.

Day 5: Imereti, the other qvevri tradition

Imereti’s method differs from Kakheti’s in one important way: the qvevri is only part-buried and the skins are removed earlier, giving lighter, more floral ambers from Tsitska and Tsolikouri. Base yourself in or near Kutaisi and visit two or three family cellars rather than large estates, since this is still largely smallholder country. The Western Wine, Imereti and Racha three-day tour combines this region with Racha in one booking if you prefer not to split the two, and works well if you flew into Kutaisi International Airport rather than Tbilisi.

Day 6: Racha, Khvanchkara and the mountain vineyards

Racha sits higher and cooler than anywhere else on this route, and its signature wine, Khvanchkara, is naturally semi-sweet rather than fortified or sugared, a result of the local Aleksandrouli and Mujuretuli grapes stopping fermentation in the cold before all the sugar converts. Visit a Khvanchkara producer near Ambrolauri, see the frescoed cathedral at Nikortsminda, and if time allows, drive up to one of the mountain lakes for the view back down the valley. The Racha, Khvanchkara Wine and Mountain Lakes two-day tour covers this comfortably from Kutaisi or Tbilisi; the longer Racha and Lechkhumi by 4×4 three-day version adds Lechkhumi’s Usakhelouri vines for serious enthusiasts.

Day 7: Back in Tbilisi, natural-wine bars and last tastings

Tbilisi’s natural-wine scene has grown around small bars in the Old Town and Vake that pour qvevri and low-intervention wines by the glass from producers too small to export widely, which makes this your best chance to taste bottles you otherwise would not find. Expect lists built around Saperavi, Rkatsiteli and regional ambers, with staff happy to talk through which valley and which winemaker. Our Tbilisi Natural Wine Evening visits three bars and around twelve wines in one guided outing, a practical way to taste broadly on your last evening without committing to full bottles at every stop. Venues open, close and change hands, so treat any specific bar name as a starting point and check current listings locally before you go.

When to go: Rtveli and harvest timing

Rtveli, the grape harvest, is the best time to see wineries working rather than just tasting, but the window moves with the vintage. In most years Kakheti’s lower vineyards start picking early white varieties in mid-September, with Saperavi and higher-altitude plots continuing into mid-October; Imereti and Racha, being cooler, often run a week or two later. Exact dates depend on sugar and acid readings each producer checks individually, so a harvest-specific trip should be booked flexibly rather than fixed months ahead. Georgia’s National Wine Agency publishes annual vintage updates that are the most reliable way to check how the season is running before you travel. We run two harvest-timed tours built around this window, a three-day Rtveli, Wine Harvest in Kakheti trip for September or October, and a longer five-day Rtveli, the Harvest Week in Kakheti for travellers who want to help with a picking and pressing rather than just watch.

What to bring home, and the customs limits

The honest souvenirs from this trip are bottles you cannot buy at home: a qvevri-aged amber Rkatsiteli, a Saperavi from a small Kakheti marani, a half-bottle of Khvanchkara, and chacha, the grape spirit, from whichever cellar poured the best one. A full, unopened qvevri is too heavy and fragile to carry and is really a design object rather than a travel purchase; stick to bottled wine.

• Moving wine between Georgian regions carries no restriction.
• Leaving Georgia, there is no blanket limit on personal, non-commercial quantities, but rules and duty treatment can change, so confirm current practice with your airline and, if in doubt, with Georgian customs before packing a full case.
• Entering the EU from outside it, adults are generally allowed a limited duty-free quantity of still wine, commonly cited as around four litres, though the exact figure and any additional duty above it is set out on the EU’s own customs guidance, which is worth checking before you fly since allowances can differ by item and change over time.
• Entering the UK, US or other non-EU destinations, duty-free wine allowances are typically smaller and vary by country; check your destination’s customs authority directly rather than assuming the EU figure applies.
• Pack bottles in checked luggage, upright if possible, inside a padded wine sleeve or wrapped in clothing; airlines do not insure breakage separately.
• Some larger estates can arrange licensed export shipping to the EU or US directly from the cellar; ask at the point of purchase and confirm the exporter’s licensing with Georgia’s National Wine Agency if ordering a significant quantity.

Practical summary

• Base the loop on a private car and driver rather than self-drive, since tastings and distances do not mix well with navigating.
• Book Kakheti for qvevri reds and ambers, Kartli for a chateau-style contrast, Imereti for the lighter half-buried method, Racha for Khvanchkara.
• Fit the qvevri workshop into your Kakheti days rather than treating it as a separate trip.
• For harvest timing, check the National Wine Agency’s seasonal updates before locking dates, and keep a few days’ flexibility either side.
• Save one evening at each end of the trip for Tbilisi’s natural-wine bars rather than one long session.
• Pack wine in checked luggage in padded sleeves, and confirm your home country’s duty-free allowance before you fly.
• For a single booking covering the whole loop, ask about the Georgian Wine Grand Tour or the Western Wine, Imereti and Racha package; for a tighter budget, combine day trips like Kakheti Estates Day, Kartli Wine Day and Racha, Khvanchkara Wine and Mountain Lakes.

Sources

• Ancient Georgian traditional qvevri wine-making method
• National Wine Agency of Georgia
• Your Europe, customs allowances for travellers entering the EU
• Georgia wine regions overview
• Kutaisi travel information
• National Bank of Georgia, exchange rates