Chateau Fort de Manavi — Gastronomy in Kakheti, Georgia

In short

Chateau Fort de Manavi is a castle-style wine estate and restaurant in the village of Manavi, Sagarejo district, Kakheti, built by the Tsakadze family on land the hotel says has been connected to their history since the 16th century. The property combines a qvevri wine cellar (marani), vineyards, a boutique hotel and a restaurant serving Georgian cuisine, and sits, according to the official website, about 50 km from Tbilisi on the road toward the Georgian-Azerbaijan border.

The concept, the chef and the room

The estate is presented by its owners as a family project built, in their words, “with great love for the history of our Motherland”. The hotel says the Tsakadze family traces its name to a 9th-century inscription at Zarzma Monastery in Samtskhe-Javakheti and that family members later settled in western Georgia before some returned east; the website links the Manavi estate to this family history rather than to the medieval Bagrationi castle once located in the same village, which it mentions separately as a royal summer residence associated with King Teimuraz and Queen Tamara.

The complex is built, the hotel says, “in the traditional Georgian style”, using natural river stone and wood, and includes a marani (wine cellar) where wine is made and stored in qvevri according to what the website describes as traditional Kakhetian technology. The grounds hold a vineyard and fruit trees typical of Kakheti — pomegranate, fig, persimmon, quince, medlar and dogwood, according to the estate. Alongside the restaurant and tasting rooms, Chateau Fort de Manavi operates as a boutique hotel, offering accommodation, and the hotel says dinner is “cooked right before your eyes from products grown right there.”

No named chef is given on the website; the cuisine is presented as homestyle Kakhetian cooking prepared with estate-grown produce and the estate’s own wine and chacha.

What to order

• Imeretian khachapuri — the cheese-filled bread included in all three of the estate’s set menu packages.
• Ostri — stewed pork, listed on every package menu on the website.
• Chkmeruli — chicken in garlic and milk sauce, included in the estate’s largest menu package.
• Ojakhuri — potatoes with mushrooms, part of the Package 3 menu.
• Ajapsandali — a vegetable stew featured in Packages 2 and 3.
• Pkhali or eggplant with walnuts — a walnut-based vegetable starter offered as an alternative pair in all packages.
• Pork barbecue — grilled pork listed in Packages 2 and 3.
• Homemade pastries — the dessert included across all set menus.
• Manavis Mtsvane — a native green-grape white wine from Manavi, the estate’s signature variety according to the website.
• Rkatsiteli and Saperavi — the estate’s qvevri-made white and red wines, served unlimited within the set-menu packages.
• Chacha — the estate’s grape spirit, offered plain or flavoured with oak, walnut partitions, tarragon, mint, pomegranate, rose or cherry, per the tasting menu.

Menus, hours and prices

The website lists three fixed per-person meal packages, priced for groups of six or more: Package 1 at €23, Package 2 at €27 and Package 3 at €31. Each includes a salad, a walnut-based starter, a main course or courses, Imeretian khachapuri, bread, homemade pastries for dessert, coffee or tea, mineral water, and unlimited qvevri Rkatsiteli or Saperavi wine with unlimited chacha. The hotel says requests for pork-free, vegetarian or vegan menus should be specified in advance. Banquet and wedding menus are also offered, with the possibility of a folklore ensemble accompanying events, according to the website.

Separately, wine and chacha tasting packages are priced per person for groups of six or more, ranging from €12 for a three-wine tasting to €17 for combined wine-and-chacha or four-chacha tastings; all tastings are served with cheese and dried fruit, with some larger packages adding fresh vegetables, puri bread, olives and nuts. No general restaurant opening hours are stated on the website; visits and tastings are arranged in advance through the estate’s contact form.

Reservations and practical details

The website asks guests to write ahead to confirm availability for a chosen date, rather than offering walk-in service. Contact is listed as +995 555 192018 or contact@chateau-fort-manavi.com, with a booking form covering catering, cooking master classes, wine or chacha tastings, wine master classes, private events, hotel accommodation and excursions. The hotel notes a discount is available for travel agencies.

Location and getting there

Chateau Fort de Manavi stands in the village of Manavi, Sagarejo district, Kakheti, at 2nd Street I Lane №1. According to the website, the estate lies roughly 50 km from Tbilisi, about 20 km from the David Gareji cave monastery complex, around 50 km from Sighnaghi, roughly 90 km from Lagodekhi National Reserve, and about 120 km from the Azerbaijan border. For its fishing tour, the website separately describes the estate as “half an hour from Tbilisi via the new highway” and offers organised transfer to and from the property for an additional charge.

Good to know

• The estate makes its own wine and chacha from grapes grown solely on its own Manavi vineyards, the hotel says, and sells them only on site rather than through retail channels.
• Wine is produced using traditional Kakhetian qvevri technology, fermented with skins, seeds and stems in clay vessels buried in the ground at a stable 14-15°C, according to the website.
• Set-menu food packages and wine/chacha tastings require a minimum group size of six, and master classes require a minimum of ten participants, per the website’s pricing tables.
• Seasonal activities include grape harvesting and winemaking in autumn (rtveli), bread baking, jam-making and chacha distillation, offered as hands-on experiences for guests.
• A weekend fishing package is available combining accommodation, meals, wine tasting and a day’s fishing at the nearby Manavi Green Lakes, priced from €167 per person in a shared double room.
• The estate also functions as a boutique hotel, so dining can be combined with an overnight stay in a converted castle-style building.
• Dietary requests (no pork, vegetarian, vegan) should be flagged in advance when booking a set menu.
• The estate states it has 30 years of experience in tourism and offers its own transport and multilingual guides for excursions in eastern Georgia.

Questions travellers ask

Do I need to book ahead, or can I just turn up for dinner?

The website is built around advance booking: guests are asked to contact the estate by phone or email to confirm a date before visiting, and the set menus, tastings and master classes all require pre-arranged group numbers, so turning up unannounced is not how the business presents itself.

What is actually on the table at Chateau Fort de Manavi?

Meals are served as fixed per-person packages rather than an à la carte menu. Depending on the package chosen, dishes include fresh salad, pkhali or walnut eggplant, ajapsandali, ojakhuri, chkmeruli, pork barbecue, ostri, Imeretian khachapuri, homemade pickles, bread and homemade pastries for dessert, accompanied by unlimited qvevri wine and chacha.

Is this a winery, a restaurant or a hotel?

According to the website, it is all three combined: a family-run estate with its own vineyards and a qvevri marani for winemaking, a restaurant serving set Georgian menus, and a boutique hotel offering overnight stays, along with wine tastings, cooking and winemaking master classes, and excursions.

How far is it from Tbilisi, and can transport be arranged?

The estate states it is about 50 km from Tbilisi on the main road toward Kakheti and the Azerbaijan border, or roughly half an hour via the newer highway mentioned on its fishing-tour page. Organised transfer to and from the property is available for an additional charge, and the estate also offers its own transport and guide services for wider excursions.

Can vegetarians or guests avoiding pork eat here?

The website states that requests for menus without pork, or for vegetarian or vegan options, should be specified in advance when placing an order for one of the set meal packages.

Sources

• Chateau Fort de Manavi — official website (chateau-fort-manavi.com)
• Chateau Fort de Manavi: History
• Chateau Fort de Manavi: Contacts
• Chateau Fort de Manavi: Fishing Tours
• Chateau Fort de Manavi: Wine Cellar
• Chateau Fort de Manavi: History of winemaking in Georgia
• Chateau Fort de Manavi: Our vineyards

Profiled in depth by the GTour desk on 28 October 2026 from the property’s official website; photographs are the property’s own, from its official website, credited under each image. Not sponsored; tell us if something has changed.