Handpicked experience · Tblisi
Tblisi, Georgia
A saint who arrived with a cross bound from vine wood and her own hair, a rampart with a tower per village, an all-night wedding office, and a grape red to the core.
A walled town you can walk the ramparts of
A monastery holding the grave of the country's patron saint
A cellar visit with pours of both the traditional and the modern style
A long lunch at a table rather than a sandwich in transit
A driver, so the tastings are not a decision anyone has to make
A twelve-hour day east from Tbilisi into Kakheti, the wine region that produces most of what Georgia drinks, taking in a hilltop town inside its own walls, the monastery below it, a cellar with tastings and a sit-down lunch.
An hour and a half to two hours of driving each way, and a long day at the far end of it. The stops alternate between walking and sitting: ramparts and a monastery in the morning, a cellar and a table in the afternoon. Tastings are part of the itinerary rather than an optional extra, and there is a driver so nobody has to decline them.
The monastery below the town holds the grave of Nino, the woman credited with converting Georgia to Christianity in the fourth century. She is said to have arrived from Cappadocia with a cross made from two lengths of grapevine, bound at the centre with her own hair, which is why the Georgian cross droops at the arms rather than sitting square. The national symbol of the church is, quite literally, made of vine.
The walls above are eighteenth-century, built by a Georgian king as a refuge against raids from the south. There are twenty-three towers along roughly four and a half kilometres of rampart, and each was assigned to a specific village in the valley below — that community's people knew which gate to run for and which tower was theirs to hold. You can still walk long stretches of the wall.
The same town runs a marriage registry that never closes. Couples can arrive unannounced at any hour and leave married, which has given the place a reputation and a steady trade in weddings. It is a small town of a few thousand people with a round-the-clock wedding office, and the two facts sit side by side without embarrassment.
Most red wine is made from grapes with white flesh; the colour comes from the skins. Saperavi, the main red variety here, has red flesh as well as red skin — one of a small handful of grapes worldwide that does. It is why the wines are so deeply coloured, and why they hold up in the cellar far longer than their reputation abroad suggests.
The nineteenth-century estate on the route belonged to a poet and general who planted the first European-style vineyard in the country and produced the first Georgian wine sold in bottles. In 1854 his family were seized from the house by raiders from the north and held for eight months before being ransomed. The gardens and the cellar are both open.
Twelve hours is a real commitment, and much of it is spent travelling. Site admissions are settled separately. Shoulders and knees should be covered at the monastery. Cancellation is free up to a day ahead.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
Twelve hours, including an hour and a half to two hours of driving in each direction. It is a genuine full-day commitment rather than a long afternoon.
Because St Nino is said to have arrived from Cappadocia carrying a cross made of two lengths of grapevine tied at the centre with her own hair. The arms droop as a result, and her grave is at the monastery on this route.
There are twenty-three of them along roughly four and a half kilometres of eighteenth-century rampart, and each was assigned to a particular village in the valley, so every community knew which tower was theirs to hold.
Yes — the town runs a marriage office that never closes, so couples can arrive at any hour and leave married. It has given a town of a few thousand people a national reputation for weddings.
It has red flesh as well as red skin, which very few wine grapes do. Most red wine takes its colour from the skins alone, and this is why Saperavi produces such deeply coloured, long-lived wines.
Its owner, a poet and general, planted the first European-style vineyard in Georgia and bottled the first Georgian wine. In 1854 raiders from the north seized his family from the house and held them for eight months before a ransom was paid.
Yes — the cellar tour, the tastings and a sit-down Georgian lunch are all part of the day. Site admissions and any wine you buy are separate.