19 Oct 2026
Georgian wine can look complicated from the outside: unfamiliar grape names, qvevri, amber wine, and a wine history stretching back thousands of years.
The advice from UK wine writers, educators, presenters and buyers is much simpler: don’t try to learn it all first.
Christine Austin, wine writer, broadcaster and senior wine judge, suggests beginning at your local independent wine merchant. Tell them what you already enjoy drinking and ask them to recommend a Georgian wine from there.
It is a logical approach because Georgian wine does not require a completely new palate. There are fresh whites, aromatic whites, sparkling wines, lighter reds, serious bold reds and everything from very gentle skin contact to very tannic amber wines.
Start with a grape
If you normally drink white wine, Georgian varieties give you plenty of places to begin.
Kisi and Kakhuri Mtsvane can be aromatic, floral and generous, and both are made in conventional white as well as amber styles. That makes them particularly useful if you are curious about skin contact: try the grape as a white wine first, then see what happens when the skins become part of the winemaking.
Chinuri and Goruli Mtsvane, particularly associated with Kartli, often give a fresher, brighter route into Georgian wine.
For reds, Saperavi is the obvious starting point, but it is worth remembering that Saperavi is a grape, not a single style. Wines can range from juicy and accessible to concentrated, tannic and built for ageing.
Then there are grapes such as Shavkapito, which give another view of Georgian red wine altogether.
For Benjamin Webb, Wine Buyer at Ellis Wines, these different styles are important from a UK trade perspective too. A Georgian wine does not have to sit in a separate, specialist category: it still needs to earn its place on a wine list alongside bottles from everywhere else.
Use the history as a conversation starter
Amelia Singer, TV presenter, wine communicator and educator, sees Georgia’s heritage as one of its great conversation starters.
That does not mean every bottle needs to arrive with a lecture about 8,000 years of winemaking, but history is there when you want it: qvevri, indigenous grapes, supra, family cellars and winemaking traditions passed between generations. It gives people something to talk about after the first glass!
Give amber wine more than one chance
Amber wine probably suffers from more prejudice and misconceptions than any other Georgian wine style.
“There are really good amber wines out there,” says food, drink and travel writer Susan Low, meaning that one very tannic, oxidative or unconventional wine you might have tasted somewhere does not represent the whole category.
Candace Strickland describes amber wine as “a whole other world” and “a different soul of wine”.
Some amber wines are light, fragrant and relatively delicate. Others are tannic, spicy and a bit savoury. The grape variety, length of skin contact and winemaking all make a difference.
Sarah Abbott MW has an even shorter description of Georgia’s place in the story: “the OG of orange wine”.
Being the oldest winemaking country in the world, Georgia is certainly not the only place making skin-contact white wines now. However, it is one of the places where the style belongs to a long, continuous wine culture rather than a recent trend.
And maybe the easiest way into Georgian wine is not to start with Georgia at all. Start with what you already like: ask your merchant, pick a variety or try it in another style. And if your first amber wine wasn’t for you, try another one! We hope you'll enjoy the process of discovery, and if you need any tips about places to taste Georgian wine in the UK (or at least in London), we have excellent articles just about that!
