Meskhi Mountain Marani
Racha is the highest wine region in Georgia and the smallest.
Wine made by a family, in a house you can visit
A directory of small, family-run natural wine producers across Georgia. Find who to visit, what they pour, and how to reach them.
Choose a region to see its towns and the families working there.
Ambrolauri
2 families
Jorbenadze Terraces
Nodar Jorbenadze replanted his grandfather’s terraces in 2019 after they had stood empty for thirty years, which in Racha involved rebuilding the dry stone walls before anything could go in the ground.
Ateni
1 family
Gogoladze of the Ateni Gorge
The Ateni gorge has been making wine since the sixth century and the Gogoladze family have been in this particular village for at least six generations, which by local standards is unremarkable.
Baghdati
1 family
Lomidze Churi
Imeretian winemaking uses the same buried clay vessel as Kakheti but calls it a churi and treats it differently: only a small part of the pressed pulp goes back into the jar, so the wine comes out lighter and sharper.
Keda
1 family
Shervashidze of Keda
Forty minutes inland from Batumi the coast road turns up into the Acharistskali valley and the temperature drops.
Kvareli
1 family
Beridze Qvevri House
Levan Beridze is a qvevri maker as much as a winemaker.
Martvili
1 family
Gabunia Ojaleshi
Ojaleshi grows up trees in Samegrelo, or used to — the name means "growing on a tree" — and the Gabunia family still keep a dozen old vines that way in the garden, alongside a proper trellised hectare planted in 2009.
Ozurgeti
1 family
Zhordania Chkhaveri
Chkhaveri is picked in November, sometimes December, later than almost any grape in Georgia, and it makes a red so pale that people regularly send it back thinking it is a rose.
Sighnaghi
1 family
Tsereteli of Sighnaghi
The house is inside the old town walls, which means the marani is small, the qvevri are small, and the view from the terrace over the Alazani valley is the reason most people stay longer than they meant to.
Telavi
2 families
Nikoladze Marani
Giorgi Nikoladze went to Tbilisi to study engineering in 1998 and came back eleven years later because his grandmother could no longer lift the lid off the qvevri on her own.
Chkheidze Family Cellar
Three sisters run this marani on the eastern edge of Telavi: Tamar keeps the vineyard, Ketevan makes the wine, and Salome, who spent six years working in restaurants in Warsaw, cooks and talks to guests.
Terjola
1 family
Kapanadze Brothers
Two brothers, one hectare, and a disagreement about skin contact that has been running since 2014.
All wine regions
Every region on the map is also a page. If you would rather read than click, start here.
- Kakheti 4 families The dry eastern plain where qvevri winemaking never stopped.
- Imereti 2 families Wetter foothills, lighter wines, and less time on the skins.
- Racha-Lechkhumi 2 families Mountain vineyards, a short season, and very little wine.
- Kartli 1 family Higher, cooler and quieter than Kakheti, and it shows in the wine.
- Guria 1 family Hillsides above the Black Sea, and a pale red worth the detour.
- Samegrelo 1 family Subtropical, rainy, and home to one great red grape.
- Adjara 1 family Steep valleys behind Batumi, an hour from the beach.
- Samtskhe-Javakheti No families listed yet A revived vineyard region, with very few families listed so far.
A few families to start with
Beridze Qvevri House
Levan Beridze is a qvevri maker as much as a winemaker.
Gogoladze of the Ateni Gorge
The Ateni gorge has been making wine since the sixth century and the Gogoladze family have been in this particular village for at least six generations, which by local standards is unremarkable.
Meskhi Mountain Marani
Racha is the highest wine region in Georgia and the smallest.
Nikoladze Marani
Giorgi Nikoladze went to Tbilisi to study engineering in 1998 and came back eleven years later because his grandmother could no longer lift the lid off the qvevri on her own.