Few winemaking methods have survived eight thousand years almost unchanged. Georgia’s qvevri method has. Archaeologists have found wine residues in Georgian pottery jars dated to around 6000 BC, and Georgian families still make wine the same basic way today: in big clay vessels buried in the ground.
What Is a Qvevri?
A qvevri (also written kvevri) is a large, egg-shaped terracotta vessel, buried up to its neck in the earth. Its inside is coated with beeswax, which seals the clay and makes cleaning easier. Underground, the wine sits at a cool, stable temperature all year without any machinery.
The shape is functional. The pointed base collects skins, seeds and lees in a small area, while the wine above clears naturally. A well-kept qvevri lasts for generations. After each use it is washed, sterilised with lime and coated with fresh beeswax.
The Method, Step by Step
1. Crushing. The grapes are crushed and everything goes into the qvevri: juice, skins, seeds and often the stems. Georgians call this mass of solids chacha, the same word they use for the pomace brandy distilled from it.
2. Fermentation. Wild yeasts from the grape skins start fermentation, with no added cultures. While the cap of skins rises, the winemaker punches it down several times a day to keep it moist and extract colour, tannin and flavour. The surrounding earth keeps temperatures steady.
3. Sealing and maceration. When fermentation is finished, the qvevri is closed with a stone or wooden lid and sealed with clay or earth. The wine stays on its skins through the winter. The solids settle into the pointed base, and the wine above clears and softens. In the classic Kakhetian method, the whole process takes about five to six months.
4. Racking and bottling. In spring the clear wine is drawn off the solids, either into a clean qvevri for further ageing or into bottle. Many producers bottle without fining or filtration.
Two Schools: Kakheti and Imereti
Georgia has two classic approaches. In Kakheti, in the east, white grapes stay on their full skins, seeds and stems for months. The wines are deeply coloured, firmly tannic and built to last.
In Imereti, in the west, winemakers use only around a tenth of the chacha and leave out the stems. The result is lighter, fresher and less tannic, closer to a conventional white with added texture. Plenty of producers now work between the two.
What the Wines Taste Like
Qvevri wines are textural, savoury and long. White grapes such as Rkatsiteli, Mtsvane and Kisi become amber wines. Expect:
- A golden to deep amber colour
- Firm tannin and a full, grippy texture
- Dried apricot, walnut, honey, black tea and spice
Reds, most often from Saperavi, are dark and earthy, with:
- Dense, rustic tannin
- Blackberry, plum, tobacco and leather
- Real ageing potential
If the amber colour and grip remind you of orange wine, that is no coincidence. Georgia’s amber wines are the original skin-contact whites. For the full story of the category, see our companion piece, Orange Wines: A Journey Through Time and Terroir.
A Living Heritage
In 2013, UNESCO added the ancient Georgian qvevri winemaking method to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The recognition covers more than a technique. It covers the potters who still make qvevri by hand, the family cellars called marani, and a wine culture woven into Georgian life.
Final Sip
Qvevri wine is not a revival or a marketing angle. It is a living tradition, with roots older than any other wine culture on earth, and it never needed reviving. If you see qvevri on a Georgian label, you are tasting about the closest thing we have to the origin of wine.
Cheers!