6 Best Wineries Near Kutaisi for Imeretian Wine Tastings & Vineyard Tours

Eastern Georgia’s Kakheti region is synonymous with wine – but in reality, winemaking traditions extend across the country, from the high mountains of Lechkhumi to the Black Sea coast.

With Kutaisi as its capital, Western Georgia’s Imereti is the second most-productive wine region and plays an equally important role in preserving wine heritage. Brimming with independent, authentic wineries and innovative vintners, Imereti is a wonderful place to encounter Georgia’s most famous drink off the beaten track.

I recently had a chance to travel part of the Imeretian Wine Route with the Tourism Cluster, established under the Clusters 4 Development project, funded by the European Union and the German Government. In this blog, I’ll introduce you to some of the wine entrepreneurs I met along the way, each of whom put a fresh spin on precious traditions.

• Also read: Authentic Kakheti – wool handicraft producers in Eastern Georgia
• And: The best bars in Kutaisi city for wine & more

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Please note: This post contains affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you make a purchase by clicking a link (at no extra cost to you). Learn more.

This blog was created as part of a paid campaign with Clusters 4 Development.

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Women in wine: Baia’s Wine

In the male-dominated world of winemaking, there are a number of young female entrepreneurs making waves. One of Georgia’s best-known vineyards, Baia’s Wine, is a great example of the growing movement towards diversity in the industry.

Located 30 minutes from Kutaisi by car in the village of Meore Obcha, Baia’s Winery keeps its vineyards on the much-praised Obcha terroir. The enterprise was founded by three siblings, Baia, Gvantsa and Giorgi Abuladze, with the two sisters taking the lead.

In a process they call ‘rediscovery’, Gvantsa and Baia have spent the better part of the last decade relearning and interpreting winemaking methods they observed during their childhood. They have also put significant energy into reviving rare grapes.

Winemaking is a family business, but it wasn’t necessarily a straight path for the sisters. Like many young people, they moved to Tbilisi to continue their studies and could well have remained in the capital. Instead, they bucked the trend and returned to the village to develop the family estate, a small operation that has grown exponentially and is now a successful exporter.

The Abuladzes produce bio wines, including Tsitska-Tsolikouri-Krakhuna, an aromatic dry white that combines three highly valued Imeretian grapes. They follow a traditional Imeretian method that differs to vintners in Kakheti, macerating the grapes for a shorter period of time and with a smaller volume of skins.

Baia’s Wine is unique because they put a lot of work into the tourist-facing part of their business. I first visited on a small group tour back in 2019. On my return visit, I was happy to see some of the changes they have made to the property, further developing the cellar dining area and creating new outdoor terraces where visitors can gather and learn about winemaking.

As the faces of the business, Baia and Gvantsa are inspiring countless other young women to go back to their roots and get (re)involved with winemaking. Their property is a warm, welcoming environment for tourists and serves as a hub for the Imeretian Wine Route, bringing renewed attention to the area and helping other small wineries to raise their profile too.

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Safeguarding rare grapes: Nanua Winery

Up the road in Terjola, Gia Chubinidze is a fifth-generation winemaker who traces his ancestry back to the courts of King Solomon II. The name of his winery, Nanua, is used interchangeably with ghvino in this part of Georgia to designate wine. It was a nickname given to his great-great-great-great grandfather, Ivane Chubinidze, who headed the Royal Cellar and cultivated grapes for the royal Bagrationi family.

For the past 30 years, Gia has been collecting grapes from around Georgia and the world. His private vine library now includes more than 100 species, including rare and endangered varietals.

As he leads us through the vines, Gia demonstrates how he has trained plants to grow on the trunks of fruit trees. Different grape varietals are planted together on the same trellises, creating a cacophony of different coloured leaves and fruits, and beautifully intertwined vines.

Our next stop is Gia’s new tasting room, a modern building with big glass windows looking out onto the garden. Here, he serves us his wine home-style from a carafe, accompanied by Imeretian snacks: hot mchadi cornbread and potato pies.

The ancient vessels and instruments that decorate the walls hark back to Gia’s family traditions. As custodian of generations’ worth of knowledge about the Imeretian soil, grapes and winemaking, it’s clear that he has a lot to share with visitors and his peers alike.

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Fostering locavorism: Gogita Makaridze Wine Cellar

Arriving at dusk just as the twinkling lights come on, I found myself at the most picturesque location imaginable for a wine tasting. It’s difficult to believe the wine cellar Gogia Makaridze and his wife Keto Puturidze run is so close to Kutaisi: The idyllic wooden oda house they have restored, with its glorious triple-face brick fireplace, feels like a relic from a different time and place.

By night’s end, the long table set out for us on the wooden balcony will be piled high with delicious food and wine.

Gogita, Keto and family grow grapes on the same terroir used by Winery Khareba, a commercial winery based in Kakheti with vineyards in Terjola. Like Gia, Gogita comes from a line of winemakers five generations deep. He specialises in low-intervention, unfiltered Otskhanuri-Sapere and Tsolikouri, with a special Tsitska and Otskhanuri-Sapere grape blend having emerged as his signature wine.

This wine cellar observes organic processes guided by nature. Indigenous yeast is used in the fermentation process, and wine is bottled without any additives.

Recognising an opportunity to create a holistic gastronomic experience for visitors, Gogita and Keto apply the same philosophy to food. The generous spread of home-cooked Imeretian delicacies – everything from local mushrooms to homemade kimchi – is nothing short of incredible.

While wine and food pairing is nothing new, the focus on locavorism and creating a full gourmet experience is something very unique in Imereti. Keto and Gogita have managed to create something that is very difficult to manufacture or replicate – the kind of authentic, memorable dining experience every tourist looks for in Georgia.

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Branching out: Otia’s Ezo

Beyond the semi-abandoned Soviet sanatoriums that make Tskaltubo famous, there is another side to the town, including a rich heritage of arts and winemaking.

Otia’s Ezo (‘Otia’s Yard’) captures both. Situated inside the family house of Otia Ioseliani, acclaimed dramatist and author who was born in Tskaltubo in 1930 and passed away in 2011, this winery is a tribute to his legacy.

The winery is managed by his grandson, Otia Otosa Ioseliani, along with his wife, Nutsa Tsiskarishvili, and their family. It was Otia junior’s idea to establish a cellar in the house and today, they bottle not only wine but also craft beer and apple cider.

Otia’s Ezo shows how business owners can think beyond wine to offer guests a rounded experience, and how wine can be used as a gateway to exploring Georgia’s broader cultural heritage. Otia and Nutsa are well known for bringing unique products to the market, but it’s the subtle way they’ve managed to draw visitors into their family history and by default, Georgia’s literary traditions that I really admire.

The pair host wine degustations, craft beer tastings and sit-down meals at the house, located footsteps from Tskaltubo Central Park. When I first visited Otia’s Ezo, I dropped in to tour the small house-museum dedicated to Otia senior’s artistic achievements.

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Raising the bar: Vizis Xidi

While some Imeretian winemakers are diversifying, others are focused on refining and perfecting their craft.

Vizis Xidi (‘Vine Bridge’) was established in Geguti village just south of Kutaisi on Alex Gabunia’s family property. At first, he and his wife, Rahel Zoebeli, who is originally from Switzerland, thought about starting a pickle-making business on the vast swathe of land adjacent to their home. In the end, they decided to set up a winery instead and have spent the past five years creating one of the most memorable cellar door experiences in Georgia.

The heart of Vizis Xidi is the European chateaux-style cellar, with elegant curved brick and grand vaulted ceilings. Wine is fermented and matured here in a series of clay qvevri embedded up to their necks.

Beyond the main hall, a network of tunnels leads to a new complex, which will soon open as a wine hotel and sauna – an addition to the wine tastings and meals the family already offers their guests.

Alex and Rahel work with four local grapes, Saperavi, Otskhanuri-Sapere, Ojaleshi and Rkatsiteli. Their focus is on creating high-quality wines that stand up next to the best from France or Spain. Countless awards plastered on the walls of the marani attest to the pair’s achievements so far.

As is customary in Imereti, Vizis Xidi uses qvevri fermentation technology free from artificial additives. Every season, they play around with experimental blending to improve their wines.

In all honesty, their wines are unlike anything I’ve tasted before in Georgia. The smooth and sweet Otskhanuri-Sapere is a favourite of mine – the flavour of honey is unmissable, a result of using natural beeswax to condition the qvevri.

Vizis Xidi embodies the idea of a quest for perfection without moving away from one’s roots. That means finding the best-quality qvevri, the best grapes, and the best fermentation techniques to make the best wines possible.

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The future of winemaking in Imereti

Imereti’s wine region is always overshadowed by Kakheti, which is much better-known on the world stage and often favoured because of its close proximity to Tbilisi. But there are some advantages to flying under the radar – you can be more versatile, and sometimes it gives you room to experiment and play until you find something truly unique.

Imeretian winemakers have to work harder to attract visitors. But those who do make it to this alternative Wine Route are usually rewarded with a truly special experience that is becoming more rare in the popular wine-producing regions.

Wine from this region is slowly gaining ground. As Gvantsa at Baia’s Wine explained, now winemakers from Kakheti often buy Imeretian grapes to press in their maranis, when historically the flow of grapes was always one-way from Kakheti to the west.

Differences in methods and heritage, Kakhetian and Imeretian winemakers have a lot to learn from each other. As one vintner from the Alazani Valley told us, the future of winemaking is to do everything yourself – that is, to centralise the whole process from vine to bottle. At the same time, greater collaboration and cooperation between wineries is essential to put Imeretian wine on the map and help more visitors to Georgia discover this lesser-known side of wine culture.

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About the C4D Tourism Cluster

Regional clusters developed in both Imereti and Kakheti regions are divided into sub-clusters of Food and Wine, Concept Accommodation, Cultural Heritage and Crafts.

The Tourism Cluster currently has 53 active members, who are encouraged to benefit one another through B2B product sharing, ideas generation, workshops and training. Its mission is to increase the competitiveness and better positioning of cluster members in the local and international markets, as well as enabling them to scale up their skills.

The Tourism Clusters have been established with support from the Clusters4Development project, funded by the European Union and the German government and implemented by GIZ.

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