Georgia: 8,000 Years of Wine, and Another Grape That Bleeds

The country of Georgia has been making wine for something like 8,000 years, and the claim rests on archaeology rather than marketing. Clay vessels carrying grape residue at Neolithic sites south of Tbilisi, dated to roughly 6000 BC, are the earliest chemical evidence of grape wine found anywhere so far. That is a specific title, not a blanket one: neighbouring Armenia holds the oldest known winery, at Areni, and Iran has its own early residue claim. Call the South Caucasus the place where the evidence runs deepest, and leave it there. The wine world obsesses over France and Italy, both relative newcomers by comparison, while Georgia sits quietly overlooked. Classic underdog.

And here's the detail that made me fall for it: Georgia's signature red grape, Saperavi, has red flesh — not just red skin. It's a teinturier, exactly like the Alicante Bouschet this whole site is named for. The word Saperavi even means "place of color." Two grapes, two corners of the wine world, both literally bleeding red. If Wine Underdogs has a spirit animal, it's the teinturier grape — the one that refuses to be subtle.

How they've made it for 8,000 years

The old method is still alive: qvevri, giant clay amphorae buried underground, where the wine ferments and ages. It's so central to Georgian identity that UNESCO put it on its heritage list in 2013. Saperavi made this way comes out inky-dark, structured, and can age for decades. You can find modern stainless-steel versions too, but the qvevri bottles are the ones that taste like history.

Start with the sweet side: Khvanchkara

If a bone-dry, tannic qvevri Saperavi sounds intense for a first date with Georgia, start where I did — in Racha, the cool mountain region that makes naturally semi-sweet reds. Khvanchkara is the famous one: a Protected Designation of Origin wine from the Aleksandrouli and Mujuretuli grapes, naturally semi-sweet because the cool climate leaves sugar in the grapes. It even won a Grand Prix in Brussels back in 1907.

Neither name is obvious on sight. Aleksandrouli is ah-lek-sahn-DROO-lee, Mujuretuli is moo-joo-reh-TOO-lee, both said here by Tamari Araviashvili, who is Georgian.

Here's mine:

Tasting Review

Marani Khvanchkara

Aleksandrouli & Mujuretuli · Racha, Georgia · 2019

Dark Horse91 / 100★★★★★★★★★★

Naturally semi-sweet, velvety, with a little citrus lift on the finish and a whisper of raspberry. Excellent — a wine that makes you grin.

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It's not a dessert wine — it's a red with a gentle sweetness and real freshness, the kind of bottle that wins over people who think they don't like "sweet." From there, work your way to a dry Kakhetian Saperavi (Marani's Gemieri is an easy entry) and you'll have tasted both ends of a tradition older than the pyramids.

Why bother?

Because it's some of the best value and best stories in wine, sitting in plain sight. A country with an 8,000-year head start, a grape that bleeds like my favorite Portuguese one, and bottles that cost less than a mainstream supermarket red. That's the entire Wine Underdogs thesis in one region.

Where to buy

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Georgia's inky native travels — qvevri and modern styles both reach US shelves. Browse every Saperavi on Wine.com →, or join the Pack.

— Chris Berry