Eastern Georgia Wine Tour

In the morning your guide and driver will pick you up from your Tbilisi hotel. Depart the capital and drive through picturesque landscapes to Kakheti Region (95km, 1hr 30min), the regional wine capital located in Eastern Georgia:

• Explore the Bodbe Monastery Complex (9th century). Also known as St. George’s Monastery, it’s one of Georgia’s most significant religious sites, for St. Nino, credited with converting Georgia to Christianity in the 4th century, is believed to be buried here.
• Continue to Sighnaghi, a small Silk Road town in east Kakheti surrounded by defensive walls and 23 towers. Walk the narrow cobblestone streets of this outpost known locally as The City of Love.
• Visit Gurjaani Kvelatsminda Church (9-17thcenturies), a unique monument of medieval Georgian architecture and the only church in Georgia bearing two cupolas.
• Drive to Tsinandali to enjoy lunch and wine tasting at Shumi Georgian Winery and Museum, an ancient winery that produces exclusive wines and boasts of a unique collection of Georgian and European varieties. All wines are made according to traditional qvevri winemaking methods in centuries-old qvevri vessels.
• Tour the adjacent Tsinandali Estate, a historical complex which includes a lovely garden and the House Museum of Prince Alexander Chavchavadze, the 19th century poet and stateman who developed the manor.

After breakfast, continue your tour of Kakheti:

• Drive to Kindzmarauli Corporation Wine Factory for a tour of their facilities, which use a blend of traditional and modern techniques.
• Continue to Khareba Winery, where wine tasting and a master class on how to prepare the national sweet churchkhela await you. A unique wine cellar located in a rock tunnel, it was originally built for military purposes but today is used to store Khareba’s finest wines.
• Drive on to Nekresi (6th century), an archaeological site in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus Mountains and an active monastery even today.
• Travel to the village of Napareuli to tour the Qvevri Wine Museum, where you’ll learn how local qvevri wine is made. See the adjoining Twins Wine Cellar, a private winery with vineyards and exclusive wines.

After breakfast, continue your wine tour:

• Take a short walking tour through Telavi’s charming streets, stopping for photos with the 900-year-old Giant Plane Tree and a monument of Irakli II, king of Kakheti in the 18th century.
• Tour Ikalto Monastery (6th century) an ancient academy famous for the fact that Shota Rustaveli, the outstanding Georgian poet of the 12th century, used to study here.
• Drive to Zaza Qbilashvili Qvevri making facility to learn how traditional clay vessel qvevri is produced. Wine tasting.
• Head to Alaverdi Monastery (11th century), located at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains and founded by the Assyrian monk Joseph Alaverdi.
• Tour Akhali Shuamta Monastery Complex (5th-16th centuries), site of two monasteries built at separate times in history and reflecting two distinct architectural styles. The newer monastery, which includes a bell tower, now serves as an active nunnery.