Winelingo
Kakheti’s Saperavi reds are deeply coloured, full-bodied and bold, with dark plum, blackberry and blackcurrant fruit, firm tannins and a fresh, tangy acidity. Its traditional amber (orange) wines, whites fermented on their skins in buried clay vessels, are structured and grippy, tasting of dried apricot, walnut, honey and black tea.
How Kakheti wine tastes
Two very different styles define this ancient region.
The red is Saperavi, and it’s a powerhouse. Because the grape has dark flesh as well as dark skin (unusual, and called a teinturier variety), the wines are almost inky in colour and full-bodied and bold, with dark plum, blackberry and blackcurrant fruit, firm tannins and a lively, tangy acidity that keeps them fresh. There’s often a savoury, earthy depth underneath the fruit.
The other signature is amber wine (also called orange wine). White grapes are fermented on their skins, stalks and pips for weeks or months in qvevri, large egg-shaped clay vessels buried underground. This gives an amber-gold wine that is dry, structured and grippy with tannin, tasting of dried apricot, walnut, honey, orange peel and black tea. It’s a world away from a crisp, fruity modern white, more savoury and textural.
You’ll also find lighter, fresher whites made in the modern (steel-tank) way, but the qvevri styles are the region’s heart.
Signature styles & what to look for
The essentials are Saperavi reds (dry, and also a traditional semi-sweet style) and qvevri-fermented amber wines from grapes like Rkatsiteli and Mtsvane.
A useful word on labels is ’qvevri’ itself, which signals the traditional buried-clay method and, for whites, usually the skin-contact amber style. You may also see ’Kakhetian method’, meaning a long skin-and-stalk maceration.
Kakheti also has several named appellations worth recognising: Tsinandali (a dry white blend of Rkatsiteli and Mtsvane), Mukuzani and Napareuli (dry, oak-aged or serious Saperavi reds), and Kindzmarauli and Kvareli (naturally semi-sweet Saperavi reds). Georgia’s semi-sweet reds are a genuine local tradition rather than a modern confection, so don’t be put off by the sweetness on the label.
The grapes & the land
Kakheti, in eastern Georgia, is the heartland of a winemaking tradition stretching back some 8,000 years, which is why the qvevri method here is recognised as living cultural heritage rather than a revival.
The climate is warm and sunny, sheltered by the Caucasus Mountains to the north and cooled by mountain rivers and altitude, so grapes ripen fully while keeping acidity, which is exactly why the Saperavi comes out so deep, ripe and full-bodied.
The key grapes are all indigenous: red Saperavi, and the whites Rkatsiteli, Mtsvane, Kisi and Khikhvi, all well suited to the long qvevri skin-fermentation that gives the amber wines their tannic grip and dried-fruit character.