Georgia is mostly a mountainous country with the Caucasus mountains running along the entire length of the country and the rest of it merging with the Armenian highlands. One of the vast stretches of plain lands lies to the east – the Alazani valley, home to the famous Georgian wines! That’s where we are going in this blog. We’ll learn more about grapes and wine as we tour vineyards and the beautiful towns of Sighnaghi and Telavi in the Kakheti region of Georgia.

It was Day 6 of the trip and we started our day at Stepantsminda. I opened the curtains to see the Gergeti church and Kazbek mountain one more time before packing our bags. We said goodbye to this beautiful mountain town in Kazbegi and started our drive to Telavi – the main city of the Kakheti region.

The route was the same that we took on the way here from Tbilisi. We passed by the Gudauri Panorama, made a quick stop to buy some of those delicious berries (we couldn’t get enough of them!).

We followed the route until the Zhinvali reservoir and took the diversion towards Tianeti.

Figuring out the best route

When you check the map route from Stepantsminda to Telavi, you would see two routes – one via Tianeti and the other via Gombori. We had read online in some blogs that the Tianeti route is quite narrow, through a forest area without any petrol pumps or repair shops nearby and roads not as good – it was better to spend an extra hour but drive on the more comfortable route. But we decided to check with our hotel for their opinion and they told us that the Gombori road was in horrible condition due to construction work happening there. Drive slowly through Tianeti and we’d get there without any issues. The tip here is to ask the locals for the latest info as you may not find it online.

A challenging drive

The road kept winding along the hills with many hairpin bends. We had a full tank of petrol and the tyres looked fine. So, we hoped that there wouldn’t be any issues along the route. The recent rains had left their mark with multiple landslides along the road. At many points, there were huge craters on the side of the road (the side which went down the hill). The perfectly smooth road had simply leached away due to the landslide. 

At one point, the entire road disappeared and we slowed down thinking that there was no path ahead. But we saw another van coming from the opposite side driving on the dirt next to the erstwhile road. Suffice to say, it was an adventurous drive through those hills and forests until we reached the small town of Tianeti.

It was a beautiful drive – there was nothing but the narrow road (in excellent condition except for the landslide craters), dense forests on both sides and the sound of birds. There were very few vehicles on this route as compared to the Military Highway which we were driving on earlier. The road continued to be full of hairpins until we reached the next town, Akhmeta. Then the landscape changed completely. 

Entering the country of flowers and wine

There were fields on both sides full of wildflowers. The flowers were of different shades of blue, red and yellow and we were mesmerized by the sight. We even stopped to just admire the sight and take some photos. The fields of flowers were followed by vineyards. We were finally in wine country!

We started noticing signboards on the highway which showed directions to every winery and cellar – they were all identical in brown with the image of a qvevri painted on them and the name of the winery.

Sadly, today’s agenda didn’t have any wineries planned and we headed straight for lunch – Cafe Mogoneba inside Telavi town. The food was really nice and we were all hungry after the long drive.  We ate Tchvishtari (corn and cheese bread), Kharcho (Georgian soup), Shoti (long bread of Kakheti region) and pizza. The cafe had old pictures of Telavi and beautiful seating areas both indoor and outdoor.

We then drove around town – next to the Giant Plane tree, the local Telavi market and the Batonistsikhe fortress. “Tsikhe” means fortress/castle and literally translates to Batonis Castle.

Our next stop was the Alaverdi Monastery, a 25 min drive back on the route we had come earlier. It was a straight road with vineyards on both sides and the Caucasus mountains in front of us.

Alaverdi monastery and wine cellar in the hotel

The monastery was picturesque! With the mountains in the backdrop, grapevines inside, sounds of many songbirds which went round and round the building, the low hum of chanting from inside the monastery and the remoteness of the place from nearby towns made it a truly unique experience. We took turns to look inside – it was ice-cold inside the monastery due to the way the building was constructed and the insides echoed with the chants of priests. The kids loved it as there was a lot of space to run around – in fact, they almost ended up exploring the cemetery in the backyard of the monastery!

We drove to our hotel – Wine Cellar Arge where we were staying for the next 2 days. It was a little outside the town and set in a picturesque vineyard. They had an amazing orchard with many peach trees. Our room’s balcony opened into miles and miles of vineyards with the Alazani river at the back and the valley going all the way back to the Caucasus mountains. Totally recommend this place!

Dinner was served inside the underground cellar – it felt like we were characters in a book set many decades ago. There were candles lit up on tables, dim lights, a grand piano on one side and many many bottles of wine. We tried different types of wine including the iconic Saperavi dry red wine, a Khvanchkara and the amber wine which is only found here. We also ate mushrooms stuffed with sulguni cheese – a delicacy that can be found in this region with giant mushrooms topped with the chewy cheese.

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Day 7

It was wine day! We were in the Kakheti wine region of Georgia and were visiting the beautiful town of Sighnaghi and visiting wineries and wine cellars to taste the best wines.

Driving was definitely not an option so we reached out to a couple of drivers in the region (searched on Google and Tripadvisor). The rate was roughly 150-200 GEL for a car+driver. Only the driver was in the range of 100-120 GEL (we went for this as we already had a car). Here are a couple of people we reached out to – Mamuka Jangualashvili (+995 555 15 67 15) and Rezo (+995 598 24 01 53). Both of them speak good English, know the region really well and have more than reasonable rates. We ended up going with Rezo as Mamuka was unwell on that day.

After an amazing breakfast with different types of cheese, yogurt, sour cream and fruits, we met Rezo outside our hotel. He reminded me of Phil from “Somebody Feed Phil”. We had shared our plan for the day with him – start by going to Sighnaghi, visit St. Nino’s Cathedral, have lunch at Pheasant’s Tears winery, do some souvenir shopping, drive to Wine Yard N1 in Kvareli for an authentic home winery experience, stop at Gremi if time permits and then get back home.

The City of Love, Sighnaghi

It took us almost 1.5 hours to reach Sighnaghi. The town is spread over the top of a hill. We stopped at a viewpoint which had a portion of the famous Sighnaghi wall to enjoy a panoramic view of the Alazani valley. We saw the main highway which led all the way to Azerbaijan. After a few photos, we continued.

Sighnaghi is known as the city of love and is a charming town. It was initially created as a fortress and the walls of the fortress can still be seen circling along the hills. The city has a very romantic vibe with its cobbled streets and beautiful buildings with orange tile roofs. There is also a wedding house that is open for weddings throughout the day. 

As planned, we went through the town straight to Bodbe’s St. Nino’s cathedral. Rezo told us the story of St. Nino as we walked towards the entrance.

The origin of Christianity in Georgia

St. Nino was the lady who brought Christianity to Georgia around the year 300. She was born in Cappadocia (present-day Turkey) which was then part of the Roman Empire. At that time, present-day Georgia was called the kingdom of Iberia. Nino traveled here, got the favor of the royal family and converted them and subsequently the entire kingdom to Christianity. Then she moved to the mountains near Bodbe and died there – a monastery was built by the king in her name.

There was a long line to enter the monastery as people took a long time to say their prayers. So we walked around and admired the gardens. Apparently, there is a running joke that the reason for such beautifully kept gardens is that they are maintained by nuns and not men. Rezo then told us that there was a spring – about 500 m away from here and a downhill climb. He would bring the car along the road around the mountain (a drive of almost 4 km) and meet us there. 

An unexpected trek

The climb was steeper than we expected and thanks to some landslides, it was slippery and muddy too. Carrying a toddler down this can be a bit tough. It is also a difficult one if you have weak knees because the steep downhill climb over the roots of trees can be brutal. But we kept going slow and steady and reached the spring. The story of the spring was that St. Nino had prayed and made it appear on the mountain-side and the water was considered holy. We only washed our hands and faces while you also have the option of taking a dip in the holy water. Rezo was already waiting for us there.

On the way back to the town, we stopped at a viewpoint on a neighboring hill to click the iconic Sighnaghi panoramic photo.

There was also a zipline here which connected directly to the town. Parth was super intrigued to see the people disappearing on the line and kept asking where they went – “Why uncle is going in the zipline?” None of the answers seemed to convince him and he kept asking us this question for a couple of days! We decided to skip the zipline and continued in our car.

Wine tasting begins

Our next stop was Pheasant’s Tears winery in Sighnaghi. We had a nice small lunch (saving space for the meal later in the day) and tried some of their wine. Every wine that we’d had so far in Georgia had been amazing and this one was right up there with the rest. They had a room with traditional Georgian clothes, wine bottles and qvevris. In their backyard, there were cherry trees full of ripe cherries. Parth kept running there and plucking as many as he could reach (with the permission of the restaurant owner, of course!).

Next stop was souvenir shopping. The entire town of Sighnaghi had cobbled streets and was perfect for walking. If we could suggest one change in our itinerary, it would be to stay for at least one night in Sighnaghi as well and absorb the vibes of the city.

Rezo stopped near the Sighnaghi museum – a significant portion of the museum was dedicated to the famous Georgian painter, Niko Pirosmani. You will also spot cafes and hotels with Pirosmani’s name here. We picked up some fridge magnets and left for Kvareli.

The next blog will be a deep-dive into the wine culture of Georgia. Stay tuned!

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Check out all the Georgia blogs here:

• The Georgia Itinerary – your guide to planning the perfect Georgia trip
• A Rainy 2 AM arrival in Georgia – avoiding scams and a rainy adventure
• Celebrating Independence Day in Tbilisi – a unique experience in Georgia
• Tbilisi Travel – Hidden Gems and Local Experiences
• The Georgian Military Highway – A Georgian road trip
• Discovering Kazbegi – A Travel Guide to Georgia’s northern mountain escape
• The Romantic Towns of Sighnaghi and Telavi – exploring the Kakheti region