Grape Varieties

One variety stands out: Rkatsiteli. It covers a good forty percent of Georgia's vineyard area, more than any other grape in the country. The name literally means red shoot, after the reddish color of the young wood in spring, not the color of the pale green berries themselves. It buds late and ripens late. This protects it from late frosts, and even in hot years it holds onto its acidity remarkably well.

Even at pressing, the juice looks almost black. The reason is a rarity. Saperavi carries darkly colored flesh directly beneath its dark skin, a trait known as a teinturier grape. In this, the grape lives up to its name, since Saperavi simply means dye or colorant. Kakhetian red wines therefore carry a depth of color rarely seen even in Bordeaux or Tuscany, paired with high acidity and firm tannin — a combination with the potential to age for decades.

Alongside these stand three more native varieties that grow almost nowhere else. Mtsvane Kakhuri translates as the green one from Kakheti and complements Rkatsiteli in many vineyards, bringing floral aromas and softer acidity. Kisi, fermented on the skins in qvevri, delivers aromas of ripe pear, marigold, and walnut. It now ranks among the region's most sought-after amber wines. Khikhvi nearly vanished from the vineyards during Soviet times and survived only in a few farmers' gardens; it smells of apricot and acacia blossom and has been enjoying a small revival in recent years.

How exactly the varieties are blended is even set by law for some wines. A Tsinandali must contain at least eighty-five percent Rkatsiteli, with the remainder filled at most by Mtsvane Kakhuri. The rule traces back to Chavchavadze's nineteenth-century recipe and remains unchanged to this day.

Rkatsiteli and Saperavi carry the region's winemaking. Yet they aren't alone: botanists count around eighty native varieties in Kakheti's vineyards, many preserved only on single plots. Of Georgia's nearly thirty protected appellations, twenty lie here — more than in any other region of the country.