How much wine and chacha can you take home from Georgia?

Georgia itself puts almost no limit on how much wine or chacha you can buy for personal use, but the country you are flying into does, and that is the number that matters. As of 27 October 2026, the European Union’s standard non-commercial traveller allowance remains 4 litres of still wine plus 1 litre of spirits over 22% ABV (or 2 litres under 22%) per adult arriving from outside the EU, which covers most Georgian chacha.

The nuance is that these are destination-country rules, not Georgian export rules, and they change by country and occasionally by year, so the figure to trust is whichever customs authority governs your arrival airport, checked on the day you fly. Georgia’s own side of the transaction is mostly about aircraft safety limits on alcohol strength, not quantity, and about using the right packaging so bottles survive the flight.

Leaving Georgia: what the export side actually restricts

Georgia actively promotes wine as a national export, so personal, non-commercial quantities carried in luggage are not capped at the border in practice. Large volumes clearly intended for resale can be treated as commercial cargo requiring the National Wine Agency’s export paperwork, so travellers bringing back a case or two for personal cellars are in different territory from someone packing dozens of bottles to sell. If you are unsure whether your quantity reads as “personal,” Georgia’s Revenue Service, reachable through gov.ge, publishes the current non-commercial thresholds, and it is worth a quick check before you buy in bulk at a Kakheti cellar.

Entering the EU

• Still wine: 4 litres per adult, duty-free
• Spirits over 22% ABV (most chacha): 1 litre, duty-free
• Spirits under 22% ABV: 2 litres, duty-free
• Beer: 16 litres, duty-free
• Allowances for spirits and wine can be split proportionally if you are not carrying the full amount of either

These figures come from the EU’s own traveller guidance on customs rules arriving from non-EU countries. Anything above these volumes should be declared, and duty and VAT may apply, with amounts assessed by the member state you land in.

Entering the UK

Travellers arriving in Great Britain from outside the UK generally get 18 litres of still wine duty-free, plus either 4 litres of spirits or 9 litres of fortified or sparkling wine, with the two convertible pro rata. Chacha above roughly 22% ABV counts as spirits here too. These numbers move occasionally with UK budget announcements, so confirm the current figure on the UK government’s own “bringing goods into the UK” page before you travel rather than relying on last year’s allowance.

Entering the United States and elsewhere

US Customs and Border Protection generally allows one litre of alcohol per adult traveller duty-free, with additional quantities possible but subject to duty, and separately subject to the laws of the state you land in, some of which cap personal imports regardless of the federal allowance. Travellers heading to the Gulf states, Israel or other markets should check the destination’s own customs site directly, since allowances there range from generous to effectively zero for alcohol; Georgia’s own rules do not travel with the bottle.

Packing, airport shops and shipping

Duty-free shops at Tbilisi International Airport, Kutaisi International Airport and Batumi International Airport sell bottled Georgian wine and chacha past security, which avoids liquid restrictions on carry-on bags, though the destination duty-free allowance still applies once you land. For checked luggage bought outside the airport, wrap bottles in clothing or a dedicated wine sleeve and declare glass contents if your airline asks. A global aviation rule worth knowing: alcoholic beverages between 24% and 70% ABV are limited to 5 litres per passenger in checked baggage and must be in original retail packaging, while anything above 70% ABV is not permitted on aircraft at all, which rules out undiluted artisanal chacha above that strength.

Shipping wine home through a courier is possible but adds its own paperwork: the receiving country’s import duty and age-verification rules apply regardless of how the bottle travels, so a case sent by post can still attract the same EU or UK duty a hand-carried bottle would. If a Kakheti Wine Country day trip or the Rtveli harvest tour leaves you wanting more than your flight allowance permits, ask the winery directly whether they offer international shipping with the paperwork already handled.

Where this comes from

Figures checked on 27 October 2026 against the European Union’s Your Europe customs guidance for non-EU arrivals and general public statements from UK and US customs authorities, cross-referenced with Georgia’s National Wine Agency on commercial export thresholds and the duty-free retail pages of Georgia’s three international airports. Because UK and US allowances are adjusted periodically, confirm the live figure on the relevant government’s own passenger-allowance page before buying in volume; this article gives the rule current at the time of writing, not a permanent guarantee.

Sources

• EU customs rules for travellers from non-EU countries
• Georgia's Revenue Service and government portal
• National Wine Agency of Georgia
• Georgian Qvevri Wine-making (UNESCO ICH)
• National Wine Agency of Georgia
• Legislative Herald of Georgia – Customs Code