Qvevri winemaking at traditional marani (cellar)

Experience the UNESCO-recognized tradition of qvevri winemaking in a traditional marani (wine cellar). These large clay vessels, buried underground for temperature control, have been used to ferment and age wine in Georgia for 8,000 years.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Stand at the Foot of the Caucasus and Count 8,000 Vintages Adventure · Free

   Where: Drive 25km north from Telavi on the road toward Napareuli village. When you pass the last curve before the valley opens, pull over and face north. The snow-capped ridge of the Greater Caucasus runs the entire horizon.

   What: You are standing at 420-500m altitude on the southern slopes of the range that separates Europe from Asia. The vineyard rows below you grow the same Rkatsiteli and Saperavi grapes that Neolithic farmers pressed here in 6000 BCE — archaeologists found the residue in clay shards at Gadachrili Gora, 200km southwest, in 2015. France wasn't making wine for another 5,000 years. Every vineyard you can see from this ridge is part of the world's unbroken 8,000-year experiment.

   How: No ticket needed. This is a roadside pull-over moment. Spend 10 minutes. Look north at the ridge. Look south at the Alazani Valley floor. Then ask yourself: what makes this altitude special? The cold air funneling down from those peaks at night is what extends Napareuli's growing season and gives its Saperavi wines the structure to age 15-20 years — nearly black in the glass, tight with tannin, built to outlast most Bordeaux at a fraction of the price.

   Backup: If road access is limited, the same vista opens from the Twins Wine House vineyard terrace — free to walk through before your tasting.

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2. 2 Touch the World's First Qvevri Museum — Then Descend Into the 18th-Century Cellar History · Price: low

   Where: Twins Wine House, Napareuli village, Telavi Municipality. Book minimum 2 days in advance via twinswinehouse.com or by phone. From the village road, the 8-meter concrete qvevri monument — two full stories tall — is visible before you reach the gate.

   What: Brothers Gia and Gela Gamtkitsulashvili opened this in 2014: the world's first museum dedicated entirely to the qvevri. Five exhibition halls document a craft so endangered only 8 families in Georgia can still do it. One craftsman in Shrosha spends 3 months building a single 2,000-liter vessel — adding just 15-20cm of clay per day, then waiting 24 hours for it to harden before adding more. When it's finally shaped: 40 days to dry. Then 7-8 days to fire. Then the interior is lined with beeswax so it never leaches — the same beeswax technique used in 6000 BCE. The museum's collection spans 15 years of Twins wines, archival photos, and documentation of all 500+ Georgian indigenous grape varieties.

   How: Tour price is approximately 17 GEL per person (roughly €6) and includes access to the museum, the 18th-century marani cellar below ground, and a tasting of 6-10 wines. In the cellar, look for the qvevri necks flush with the floor — 135+ of them, each holding 3.5-4.5 tonnes. The cellar maintains a constant 14°C year-round with zero refrigeration. Ask the guide which qvevri holds their Kisi — the amber wine from a grape that was nearly extinct by 2000 and has only recently been revived.

   Backup: If Twins is fully booked, Ghvardzelashvilis Marani (Napareuli, +995 555 104 110) offers a similar English-language marani tour in the Alazani River Valley with Caucasus Mountain views.

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3. 3 Taste the Wine That Spent Six Months Buried Alive Wine · Price: low

   Where: At the tasting table inside the Twins Wine House marani, underground. You're in the same cellar the Gamtkitsulashvili family has used since the 1700s.

   What: This is not like any white wine you've tasted anywhere in Europe. The guide will pour you a glass of Rkatsiteli made the Kakhetian way — which means the grape skins, seeds, and stems all fermented together in a sealed clay vessel for five to six months, buried 6 meters underground where the temperature never varies. The result is amber-colored (sometimes called 'orange wine,' a trend wine bars now charge €18 a glass for — you're at the origin). It smells like dried apricot and honey. It has tannins. White wine with tannins. That's the Caucasus doing what 8,000 years of practice produces.

   How: The tasting (~17 GEL) includes 6-10 wines. Ask specifically for: 1. Their Rkatsiteli Qvevri amber — taste the tannin structure, compare to any white you know 2. Their Kisi Qvevri — the revived near-extinct variety; look for rose pot-pourri, orange peel, walnut 3. Their Napareuli Saperavi — hold it to the light: if it's a real Napareuli, it appears nearly opaque, almost black. Sniff for cassis, leather, smoke. This is what the altitude does. For each wine, taste while looking at the qvevri necks in the floor around you. The barrel IS the cellar floor.

   Backup: If you can't get into the marani tasting, any restaurant in Telavi pouring 'Marani Napareuli' label (Telavi Wine Cellar brand) will have the same PDO appellation wine — look for it on wine lists across Kakheti.

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4. 4 Ask to See a Sealed Qvevri — Then Ask When It Will Be Opened Wine · Free · Optional

   Where: Still in the marani cellar during your Twins Wine House tour, or at any small family marani in Napareuli (ask your accommodation host — most Napareuli families have one).

   What: Somewhere in the marani floor, there is a sealed qvevri. Under that beeswax-and-stone cap, wine has been fermenting and macerating in total darkness, at 14°C, untouched. If it was sealed in October after the rtveli harvest, it will stay sealed until May. That is the qvevri opening ceremony — the moment Georgians call 'the birth of the baby wine from Mother Earth's womb.' They gather with folk songs, clay cups, and chacha. Priests bless the opening. The first glass goes to the sky.

   How: During the marani tour, crouch down and put your hand on a sealed qvevri lid (ask first — this is fine). Feel the temperature of the stone. Then ask the guide exactly when THIS one was sealed, and when it will be opened. If you're visiting in September or October, you may be able to participate in the unsealing and foot-pressing of new grapes — Twins specifically offers 'participation in harvest (rtveli)' and 'qvevri opening' as bookable experiences. Contact them in advance.

   Backup: Even without a harvest visit, the museum's exhibitions show photographs of the ceremony in detail. Study them — the image of the qvevri neck surrounded by singing men in traditional costume is one of the most quietly powerful wine photographs ever taken.

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5. 5 Eat Mtsvadi Grilled Over Vine Stalks, Wash It Down With Napareuli Saperavi Adventure · Price: moderate

   Where: At the Twins Wine House restaurant, or at any roadside grill along the Telavi-Napareuli road. Ask specifically for 'mtsvadi on vine stalks' — this is a Kakheti detail that distinguishes local grilling from anywhere else in Georgia.

   What: In Kakheti, they don't grill meat on metal skewers. They use the pruned stalks of the grapevine itself as both skewer and fuel. Vine wood burns hotter and cleaner than charcoal. The meat — pork or beef, marinated in vinegar and onion — picks up a faint smoke from the wood of the same vines that produced the wine in your glass. It is the most complete farm-to-table experience possible: wine and food from the same plant, prepared by the same family, in the same valley for 8,000 years.

   How: Order mtsvadi (grilled meat) — 20-35 GEL per portion. With it: a glass of Napareuli Saperavi (PDO wine, ask for it specifically). The pairing is not subtle. Saperavi's tannic grip and cassis backbone cuts through the fat of the meat like it was designed to. Because it was. Serve yourself a piece of churchkhela from the table — the walnut-and-grape-juice candy — for dessert. It was made from this year's Rkatsiteli harvest and tastes like the vineyard compressed into something you can carry in your pocket.

   Backup: If vine-stalk mtsvadi is not available at your specific location, any Kakheti restaurant serves mtsvadi and any glass of local Saperavi will complete the experience.

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Insider tips

• Ask to see the ancient family qvevri - some are over 300 years old

• The amber Rkatsiteli made in qvevri is exceptional

• Book the supra (Georgian feast) experience if available