Tbilisi, Capital of Georgia
Alaverdi Monastery with backdrop of Caucasus Mountains
Georgia
8 - 18 September 2013
Georgia is a small country on the far-east edge of Europe, beyond Turkey and nestled between the Greater and Lesser Caucasus Mountains. It is and always has been a ‘wine country’. There are some startling facts about Georgian wine. There are a purported 520 native grape varieties, for this is the area that the grape vine comes from and where wild vines were first domesticated. Considerable amounts of wine are still made in amphorae, locally called ‘qvevries’, that they bury in the ground as they have since Neolithic man first made wine here.
The tour starts in the capital, Tbilisi. (It also returns to Tblisi at the end of the tour, so there is plenty of time to explore here). It then moves to Kakheti in eastern Georgia, the main wine region. The visits start at Alaverdi Monastery and its winery beneath the towering Caucasus Mountains and follow with Marani-Telavi Wine Cellars, Schuchmann and Pheasant’s Tears. We’ll also taste wines from Orovela, G.W.S., Teliani Valley, Chateau Mere and top small producers.
Next, we head to western Georgia, where we meet local winemakers for tastings over wonderful feasts, including the hospitable Iago, the favourite visit of our tour last year. We also visit one of the last remaining qvevri makers who is keeping alive a tradition that dates back over the millennia. Also in this region, we visit one of the ancient cave cities.
We stay for 2 nights in Kutaisi, Georgia’s second city, with time to explore including its fabulous market. We then return to Tblisi where we are based for the last 2 nights. On our last day of touring, we visit the cathedral city of Msketa and the Roman site of Dzlisi with its superb mosaics of Bacchus. Lunch is at Chateau Mukrhani, the re-founded C19th royal estate that won 2 gold medals at the great Paris Exhibition and is which is making fine wine once again.
We will have tasted many very good wines and many too that are extraordinary, largely in a good way. The scale of production of some of these wines is minute. Production can be ultra-traditional with almost no human intervention between crushing and bottling. They are some of the world’s ultimate ‘natural wines’ and are highly sought after internationally, especially in the USA and Japan, as well as the UK. In our tastings we discover many the many grape varieties including the Viognier-like ‘Kisi’ and the ink-black ‘Saperavi’ and others that are only found in single villages in Georgia.
Along the way, we’ll see castles and medieval Orthodox churches that dot the spectacular Georgian landscape and visit some of the most interesting of these.
Tim Clarke spent the spring of 2011 writing a wine tourism strategy for Georgia. In the course of this, he became convinced that it could be an amazing destination for a wine tour. At its highest expression, Wine Tourism is a quest for a more meaningful wine experience at the source. Georgia has an ancient but very much living wine culture that is strange and uplifting, and is a direct connection to a past that is the source of everything in wine.
Please note: This tour has been revised since last year and is now one night and effectively a day and a half longer. The hotel in Tblisi is unchanged and following the opening of new hotels all the hotels in the countryside sections have been upgraded.
8 - 18 September 2013
£3,075.00 
per person
Places available.Price Includes:
- Return flights London – Tbilisi, all flight taxes (see travel details below).
- 10 nights 4* hotels and 3* hotels, with breakfasts.
- 16 meals (8 dinners and 8 lunches, some picnics), with wines.
- Visits and tastings.
- Guided tour of Tbilisi & Mtskheta, entrance to 2 UNESCO sites and various historical sites.
- Tim Clarke as Arblaster & Clarke Wine Guide and a local bi-lingual Tour Manager.
As nearly all meals are included, you will only need a small amount of cash with you for a few meals, personal incidentals and gifts.
Travel: Return flights includedSole Occupancy: £450.00
Deposit: £550.00
Room Upgrade: Please Enquire
Georgia
Outline Itinerary
Day 1. Sunday 8 September Flights London – Tbilisi (see travel details). Transfer to central Tbilisi hotel. Overnight 4* Hotel Marriott, Tbilisi.
Day 2. Monday 9 September Morning and lunchtime free in Tbilisi. Walking tour of Tbilisi. Introductory tasting. Dinner in Tbilisi. Overnight 4* Hotel Marriott, Tbilisi.
Day 3. Tuesday 10 September Drive east from Tblisi to Kakheti, the main wine region where you are based for the next four days. Visit the Alaverdi Monastic wine cellar. Lunch at traditional cellar. Check in to Telavi hotel. Dinner at Chateau Mere. Overnight 3* hotel, Telavi.
Day 4. Wednesday 11 September Visit the site of Ikalto. Tasting at Telavi Wine Cellars (Marani). Lunch. Visit Tsinandali Palace gardens. Free time in Telavi. Dinner at Shuamta Forest restaurant tasting the wines of GWS. Overnight 3* hotel, Telavi.
Day 5. Thursday 12 September Visit historical site of Gremi (optional). Wine tasting and lunch at the Schuchmann winery. Travel to Sighnaghi and check in to hotel. Free time in Sighnaghi. Tasting and ‘supra’ dinner at the traditionalist Pheasant’s Tears winery. Overnight boutique hotel (4* equivalent), Sighnaghi.
Day 6. Friday 13 September Sightseeing & museum visit in Sighnaghi. Travel to Tibaani vineyards and tasting (with vineyard tour). Visit wine cellars with Qvevri. Picnic lunch and tasting in vineyard. Free time in Sighnaghi (or carpet studio visit). Visit to castle (optional, payable locally). Dinner with traditional dishes from the Megrelian region. Overnight boutique hotel (4* equivalent), Sighnaghi.
Day 7. Saturday 14 September Check out of hotel and travel west to Kutaisi. Visit to Iago Wine Cellars, including lunch. On to Kutaisi and check in to Guesthouse. Free time in Kutaisi. Tasting of artisan producers of Imeritan wines and dinner with winemakers. Overnight (4* equivalent), Kutaisi.
Day 8. Sunday 15 September Visit the spectacular site of Gelati. Visit local winemakers. Lunch. Free time in Kutaisi and visit to the market. Dinner. Overnight (4* equivalent), Kutaisi.
Day 9. Monday 16 September Return to Tbilisi. En route, visit a potter making Qvevri, the traditional ‘amphorae’ that many Georgian wines are still made in. Lunch and tasting of West Georgian wines. Guided visit of the Uplistsikhe Cave monastery. Evening with mezze dinner in Tbilisi. Overnight 4* Hotel Marriott, Tbilisi.
Day 10. Tuesday 17 September Guided walking tour of Mtskheta. Tasting and lunch at Chateau Mukhrani. Visit the Roman site at Dzalisa nearby with Mosaics of Bacchus. Return to Tbilisi. Farewell dinner. Overnight 4* Hotel Marriott, Tbilisi.
Day 11. Wednesday 18 September Morning free in Tbilisi. Flight (16:30 departure) Tbilisi – London (see travel details).
Hotel Details
4* Hotel, Tbilisi
This is a good 4* hotel up to international Courtyard Marriott standards. It is in a superb position right in the centre of Tblisi on Freedom Square. Rooms are comfortable and well appointed with TV, wifi, minibar and tea/coffee makers. There is a restaurant and a bar. There is a gym and a spa with sauna, massage and indoor heated swimming pool.
3* Hotel, Telavi
This is a newly opened 15 room Chateau hotel, classified 3* and just outside the town of Telavi, in Kakheti, Eastern Georgia. The hotel is built over a working wine cellar and there are views over the vineyards of the Alazani Valley and the Greater Caucasus ranges. There is an outdoor swimming pool in the grounds of the hotel (open depending on weather). There is a restaurant, and a bar rooms, which are classically decorated. All rooms are ensuite with a flat-screen TV and minibar. King suites are available with roof-top jacuzzi or balcony.
There are only 7 rooms available for sole occupancy rooms at the hotel above. These will be given to the first 7 solo travellers to book, after which sole occupany rooms will be in a small renovated 3* hotel set in a 19th century building the centre of Telavi.
4* equivalent Hotel, Sighnaghi
This is a newly opened boutique hotel, which belongs to the ‘Preferred Boutique Hotels’ group. The rooms are comfortable, reasonably sized and decorated with modern fittings and muted colours. The public rooms are comfortable and tastefully decorated with oriental carpets and kilims. The hotel has a gym and a spa with a small swimming pool, sauna and turkish bash. The restaurant and bar have superb views over the valley.
3* equivalent Hotel, Kutaisi
Travel Details
We fly with Ukraine International Airlines.
Outbound, Sunday 8 September: Gatwick South, departs 12:20 – 17:40 arrives Kiev, departs 20:00 – 23:25 arrives Tbilisi.
Return, Wednesday 18 September: Tbilisi, departs 16:30 – 17:55 arrives Kiev, departs 20:05 – 21:35 arrives Gatwick South.
Please call for details of Business Class flights.
Please note: After the 28th July 2013 room allocations are reduced and flights are released, so although there may be space on the tour you may be offered alternative accommodation. Early booking is strongly recommended for the best price and to ensure availability on the included travel and at the main tour hotels.
Wine Notes...
Click here to read wine notes by Tim Clarke and other guest writers on the wine regions visited.
