We were on our 10th toast of the evening. The spicy red wine was starting to slip down as easily as Ribena and, even though I was stuffed, that last slice of cheesy bread was looking mighty tempting. Forget France, I thought: this is wine culture.
That wine was not a bordeaux, but a saperavi – the king of red grapes in Georgia, a country that claims to have the oldest wine-making culture in the world.
I was in the home of Simon Ruadze, a folk musician, in Kakheti, Georgia’s most famous grape-growing region where around 80 per cent of its wine is produced. Here, the quality and the cost are skyscraper high and bassline low, respectively –expect to spend the grand sum of £2 for a glass of wine in most local restaurants. And it’s not just a matter of national pride: wine in Georgia even has Unesco recognition.
Initiating myself into all things wine meant participating in a supra: a traditional feast typified by food, drink and singing. These traditional feasts can go on all day (and sometimes all night) and are peppered with dozens of toasts led by a designated tamada (toastmaster).
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Simon hosts guests for traditional supras on behalf of Regent Holidays, the tour operator I was travelling with, and is a stellar tamada. His son and granddaughter began to bring out a seemingly never-ending parade of dishes: khachapuri (bread oozing with cheese and a gooey cracked egg), aubergines stuffed with walnut paste, barbecued pork and, of course, lots of wine. The procession was interrupted only by Simon’s toasts.
These ranged from brief exclamations – “to the Motherland!” – to long stories from his childhood, jokes about Vladimir Putin, and even a burst of haunting folk songs and some traditional dancing from his granddaughter. It was a completely unique experience and unlike any I’d had in other wine regions of the world.
Even better, all this delicious culture is about to become easier to access, as airlines have been rushing to start direct flights from the UK to Georgia. In 2025, both British Airways (30 March) and easyJet (1 April) will launch new direct routes from London to Tbilisi.
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Autumn is an ideal time to visit. I travelled in late September when the trees were dripping with fat, ripe plums and the temperature hovered around 22C. It’s also a time when another unique aspect of Georgian wine culture makes an appearance: the rtveli.
These harvest festivals bubble up across Kakheti in late September/early October when communities come together to collect grapes, make wine, sing songs and feast.
Lopota Lake Resort & Spa, a hotel and winery in the region, hosts an annual rtveli that guests can participate in, so we booked ourselves a room to try it out. The resort is made up of 16 charming properties – each with a handful of hotel rooms – surrounding a lake. Twisting paths through the vegetable patches (where a man with a pony and trap collected pumpkins the size of space hoppers) lead to the turreted stone chateau of the winery.
It was on the lawns in front of the winery where all the hotel guests, myself included, gathered for the revile. Secateurs and wicker baskets had been laid out for us before we headed out into the vines, returning with armfuls of plump grapes. Our treasures were poured into a hollowed-out tree trunk for everyone to trample underfoot, squeezing out juice to be fermented into that year’s vintage.
Afterwards, we lounged on the grass as hotel staff kept us topped up with Lopota’s wines and gorged on juicy pork kebabs, roast pumpkin and harvest fruit. The five-star hotel, with its nine swimming pools, forest spa, and five restaurants (including a jazz club), is one of the most luxurious places to stay in the region. But even here rooms start at just £220 a night.
Staying somewhere comparable in Burgundy or Tuscany would easily set you back £350 or more. The food, wine and activities of the harvest festival revelry were a complimentary extra (for those who can bag a room over Lopota’s most popular weekend).
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The blissful atmosphere made it hard to believe the resort is located just on the other side of the Caucasus Mountains from Russia. But locals like Nino Mamisashvili, a tour guide organised by Regent, are sanguine. “We don’t feel unsafe,” he said. “Georgia has always known conflict – it’s normal for us.”
The drive back to Tbilisi (which should have taken two hours) was long and meandering as Regent dropped us off for tastings at some of the best local vineyards. Shumi Winery was a particular favourite due to its trickling fountains and sprigs of fairy lights that gave it a magical feel.
In France, tastings are usually free but come in tiny measures with the hawkish expectation you'll buy something. In Georgia, however, you usually pay a small fee (about £10) and the winemaker will lavishly fill your glass from as many bottles as they have available, regale you with stories, and ply you with local cheese, bread and nibbles. Personally, I much preferred the latter.
“There’s a saying that, for Georgians, guests are a gift from God,” Lalli Balamtsarashvili, another of the Regent guides, said. “Hospitality is natural to us.” I may be no tamada but I’ll raise my glass to that.
How to do it
Regent Holidays offers an 11-day culture and cuisine of Georgia tour which starts from £3,925 per person sharing, including return flights, accommodation, most meals, a full programme of activities and private transfers. regent-holidays.co.uk; 0117 453 7243
Marianna Hunt travelled as a guest of Regent Holidays and Lopota Lake Resort & Spa.
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