Georgia has some of the world's earliest evidence of winemaking.
8,000 years ago, in what's now the Shulaveri-Shomu region, someone buried a clay pot full of grape juice in the ground. Archaeologists have found traces of wine in pots like these, some of the earliest evidence of winemaking anywhere. 8,000 years later, Georgia is still making wine underground. That same technique, Qvevri winemaking, is now UNESCO-protected. It's still how the best wines in Kakheti are made today.
You'll taste wine from those Qvevri vessels. You'll eat lunch in the home of a family that has made them for four generations. You'll visit the palace of the duke who brought European winemaking to Georgia in the 19th century. You'll drive to Racha — the only valley on Earth where Khvanchkara grapes grow — and drink the semi-sweet red that was reportedly Stalin's favorite.
And yes — you'll dine. Constantly. With wine. As intended.
