Kakheti

Kakheti is where Georgia keeps its wine, its light and its slowest afternoons. East of Tbilisi the road drops through the Gombori pass into a wide valley of vineyards, walnut trees and red-roofed villages, with the Caucasus standing white along the northern horizon. This is the birthplace of qvevri winemaking — grapes fermented in clay vessels buried in the earth, a method eight thousand years old and still practised in nearly every family cellar.

Telavi is the working capital; Sighnaghi, on its hilltop above the Alazani valley, is the pretty one. Between them lie Alaverdi cathedral, the academy at Ikalto, the painted monastery of Nekresi and hundreds of wineries, from château estates to a grandmother pouring amber wine from a jug. The food matches the wine: walnut sauces, roast lamb, fresh churchkhela drying on strings.

Kakheti works as a day trip from Tbilisi, but it is at its best over two or three days, with a night in a vineyard guesthouse and an unhurried supra table. Late September and October, during the rtveli harvest, are the finest weeks of the year.