On the amber wine trail: 6,000 years of winemaking history in Georgia
Published on: February 13th, 2025
As the sunlight hits the glass, the wine glints in the late afternoon glow. It’s not garnet or ruby, nor near-translucent elder-flower-white. It’s a rich, honeyed gold. This is an amber wine, made in Georgia’s Kakheti Wine Region where this style has been produced for millennia.
Grapes have been grown here, in the shadow of the Caucasus Mountains’ snow-capped peaks, since neo-lithic times. Some of their names – Mtsvane, Saperavi, Rkatsiteli and Kisi – might sound unfamiliar. The landscapes, where row upon row of vines stretch between ancient stone villages, their delicate gold-flecked leaves fluttering in the breeze, instantly single out Kakheti as one of the world’s most beautiful wine regions.
Georgia produces fascinating wines, with some five hundred or so grape varieties indigenous to the country. Amber wines are perhaps the most original of all. Made from white grapes that are fermented with their skins, following a process closer to that usually used to make red wine, they have complex aromas and vivid hues ranging from burnt orange to pink-tinged tangerine.
In Kakheti, winemaking traditions have changed little over the centuries. Setting off on a tasting tour here, you’re treated to glimpses into techniques that date back to the sixth century BCE, delving into dust-shrouded ancient cellars as well as innovative modern wineries. Opportunities to sip, swirl and taste abound.
Wine aside, your lasting memory from your time in Kakheti is likely to be one of Georgian hospitality. Of aromatic local cuisine. Of honey-coloured monasteries and rolling vineyards. Of local winemakers who welcome you to their homes. Of wines that sing with stories of the past.
A sip back in time
It’s only recently that Georgia’s amber wines have developed a cult following. Often called orange or skin-contact wines outside the country, they’re coveted for their bold, crisp flavours. Bottles appear on menus at Michelin-starred restaurants in Tokyo, New York, London and Paris.
Amber wine’s origins are much more prosaic, rooted in the culture of the Georgian countryside and an older, lower-intervention approach to winemaking.
The best way to understand the style is to first think about white wines. The lightness and clarity of a white wine is achieved thanks in part to machines that separate grape juice from the pips and the skins, which would give the wine colour and tannin. Processes of stabilisation and clarification further transform the juice from its musty beginnings, creating whites that may even vary little from one year to the next.
In the 6,000 years since wines were first produced in Kakheti, winemaking has taken a gentler course, the harvest often a family affair. Pressed white grapes are traditionally fermented complete with their skins, stalks and pips. They take on a kaleidoscope of orange, copper and golden hues. As they age, these amber wines develop notes of spices, flowers and caramel. And they’re often poured hazy not clear.
It wasn’t until after Georgia regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 that the style started to see a true renaissance. Sophisticated, surprising and sometimes even subtle, amber wines are now drawing curious oenophiles from around the world – and away from Europe’s hallowed old-world terroir.
Sophisticated, surprising and sometimes even subtle, amber wines are now drawing curious oenophiles from around the world – and away from Europe’s hallowed old-world terroir.
Rosie Beckford
Travel Designer
The art of the qvevri
While Slovenia and Italy have their own orange wine traditions, Georgia’s is perhaps the most intriguing. It’s all thanks to the qvevri.
These large, egg-shaped clay amphorae are used for fermenting, ageing and storing wine. When filled after the harvest, they’re traditionally buried underground for up to six months. You’ll see them sunk into the floors of ancient monasteries, stacked in cavernous cellars and proudly shaped according to the traditions of different regions.
Today, qvevri remain unique to Georgia and are protected by unesco as Intangible Cultural Heritage. Their purpose is surprisingly simple. Long before temperature-controlled steel vats, burying fermenting wines kept the temperature stable. The surrounding earth supports the soft curves of the qvevri’s ceramic form. Inside, the fermenting wine is able to circulate, coming into contact with those all-important skins.
Ask a local winemaker and the story might deepen. You could hear about how the lids are sealed with bees-wax and wet clay. Or about the place winemaking holds in local culture, the qvevri as much part of Georgian identity as the country’s beautiful folk songs.
On the amber wine trail
In the past few years, interest in Georgia’s amber wines has continued to increase. While bottles might travel far afield, nothing compares to the insight you gain meeting the custodians of this ancient tradition amid the vineyards where it all began.
Beautiful Kakheti, home to around seventy percent of Georgia’s wine production as well as some exceptional spots to dine, is the natural place to start.
Amber wines lend themselves exceptionally well to food. Their depth and complexity can match the aromatics of garlic, spices and herbs, particularly those that pepper the lush meadows of the Caucasus come spring. They can stand up to meaty dishes where whites would flounder, pairing perfectly with the local specialities of mtsvadi, spit-roasted Georgian barbecue, and khinkali, savoury, broth-filled dumplings.
Tasting an amber wine requires a different approach. Don’t just look for colour and acidity – although they’re both present in abundance. Search for sour notes not sweet. Take a moment to savour the texture, to feel the light pucker from the tannin and to take in the intensity of the flavours.
There’s lots more to take in on the amber wine trail. Idyllic views from the winding roads between monasteries you’ll navigate with your guide. Hearty dinners in the pretty town of Sighnaghi. Invitations into family homes. The warmth of the harvest celebrations, if you choose to visit in early autumn for the rtveli festivities.
One thing is for sure: whenever you visit, and however long you spend in Kakheti, you’ll find history in every glass and at every stop along the way.
WORDS BY: Eleanor Aldridge
Whether you want to launch your own discovery of Georgian wine, or explore more of the Caucasus, our travel designers are ready to help.
