Kakheti Wine Discovery

Once the royal capital of Kakheti under King Levan, Gremi rises above the Alazani Valley as a church-fortress that survived the fall of 1615. We walk you through the frescoed Archangel Michael Church and climb the royal tower for sweeping valley views, then trace the palace ruins and museum that tell the kingdom's story. Pair it with nearby Nekresi and the wine town of Telavi for a full day in Georgia's old eastern heartland.

A walled hilltop town in Kakheti's wine country, Sighnaghi keeps one of Georgia's best-preserved fortress walls, whose 23 towers look out over the vineyard-covered Alazani Valley toward the Caucasus. Walk the ramparts, taste qvevri wine made the ancient way at Pheasant's Tears, and see Niko Pirosmani's paintings in the town museum. Nearby Bodbe Monastery holds the tomb of St. Nino, drawing pilgrims to its hillside gardens.

Telavi is the heart of Kakheti, Georgia's wine country, where vineyard-covered valleys meet centuries of royal history. Once the medieval capital under King Erekle II, it surrounds you with sights like the towering Alaverdi Cathedral, the elegant Chavchavadze Estate, and the cellars of Tsinandali. Days here move from castle walls and monasteries to long tables of mtsvadi, fresh shoti bread, and deep-red Saperavi poured straight from the source. Come in autumn for the grape harvest and you'll taste the region at its most alive.

In the heart of Kakheti, Tsinandali centres on the elegant Chavchavadze Estate, where poet Alexander Chavchavadze brought European winemaking to Georgia in 1818. Stroll the English-style gardens, tour the estate museum, and descend into a cellar whose 1841 winery still pours its celebrated white. With concerts and harvest celebrations through autumn, it pairs aristocratic history with the easy pleasures of Georgian wine country.