Every September, Kakheti's vineyards fill with pickers for rtveli, the harvest that feeds Georgia's 8,000-year-old qvevri winemaking tradition.
Rtveli, the grape harvest, turns the Alazani Valley into one long outdoor party each September, with families and visitors alike picking Saperavi and Rkatsiteli by hand before the grapes — skins, stems, seeds and all — go straight into buried clay qvevri to ferment.
A traditional Kakhetian winemaker will walk you through the whole cycle: crushing grapes underfoot in a hollowed log satsnakheli, sealing the qvevri with a stone lid and beeswax, then months later cracking one open to draw off wine the color of strong tea, tannic and utterly unlike anything aged in oak.
Time a visit for harvest weekend if you can, but any autumn visit to a family marani, or wine cellar, usually ends the same way — a long supra table, endless toasts led by a tamada, and more khinkali and churchkhela than anyone needs.
