UNESCO: Georgian Traditional Qvevri Wine-Making Method

Georgia's winemaking heritage is among the oldest in the world, with chemical analyses of pottery from Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris Gora providing biomolecular evidence for grape wine dating to around 6000 to 5800 BC. This predates the previously accepted oldest evidence, from Hajji Firuz Tepe in Iran at around 5400 to 5000 BC, by 600 to 1,000 years. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2017, was led by University of Pennsylvania archaeologist Patrick McGovern and involved a joint Georgian and international team. UNESCO recognised the living continuation of this tradition in 2013, acknowledging that the method had survived invasions, religious transformations, Soviet collectivisation, and the pressures of industrialised winemaking precisely because it remained embedded in Georgian family life, Orthodox Church practice, and village social structures.

• Chemical analyses of pottery from Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris Gora revealed tartaric acid residues, confirming wine production at approximately 6000 to 5800 BC during the early Neolithic period
• The decision to inscribe the method was made at the 8th Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Baku in 2013, attended by a Georgian delegation headed by the Minister of Culture
• Georgia joined the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2007, and the qvevri method became its first recognised inscription under that convention
• In 2021, qvevri were granted Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, legally establishing Georgia as their sole place of origin and giving formal legal protection to the vessel itself

Georgia's principal wine regions span contrasting climates across a relatively compact country. Kakheti in the east, flanked by the Greater Caucasus to the north and the Alazani River valley, accounts for approximately 76.7 percent of total vineyard area and is the heartland of qvevri production. Western regions including Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi, and Guria experience greater maritime influence from the Black Sea, producing softer, lighter wine styles. The Likhi Range bisects the country, creating a quasi-tropical climate in parts of the east. Georgia has around 55,000 hectares of vineyards in total, divided into ten official viticulture and winemaking zones, with 20 recognised appellations of origin, 16 of which are in Kakheti.

• Kakheti accounts for around 76.7 percent of Georgia's vineyard area, with Imereti at 14.6 percent, Kartli at 4 percent, and Racha-Lechkhumi at 1.7 percent of the total
• The Kakhetian method buries qvevri fully in the cellar floor and uses whole-bunch fermentation with all skins, stems, and pips for up to six months; the Imeretian method uses only roughly one-tenth of the pomace and no stems, producing lighter, less tannic amber wines
• Kakheti contains 16 of Georgia's 20 appellations of origin, including Tsinandali, Mukuzani, Kindzmarauli, Napareuli, and Teliani
• Traditional qvevri-making villages include Vardisubani in Kakheti and Shrosha, Makatubani, Tq'emlovana, and Chkhiroula in Imereti, as well as Atsana in Guria

Georgia's ampelographic diversity is exceptional, with more than 525 documented indigenous varieties, of which around 45 are currently used in commercial viticulture. Rkatsiteli is the country's most planted variety, covering approximately 43 percent of all vineyard plantings across around 20,000 hectares; its name means 'red stem' in Georgian. Saperavi is the dominant red variety, a rare teinturier grape with both red skin and red flesh, producing deeply pigmented, age-worthy wines. The qvevri method creates a separate stylistic category: amber wines made from white grapes fermented with their skins, seeds, and sometimes stems, producing tannic, oxidatively complex wines of deep golden to copper colour. This is the style Georgia is most celebrated for internationally and is the fastest-growing category within Georgian wine.

• Rkatsiteli accounts for approximately 43 percent of all Georgian vineyard plantings; in qvevri, it develops honeyed, stone-fruit, and dried-orange-peel complexity with moderate tannins from extended skin contact
• Saperavi, meaning 'something to colour with,' is Georgia's most important red variety, producing inky, full-bodied wines with dark berry, spice, and leather notes and significant ageing potential
• Imereti's principal white varieties include Tsolikouri, Tsitska, and Krakhuna, typically fermented with only a portion of the pomace, yielding lighter amber wines closer in style to conventional whites
• Amber wine, made from white grapes fermented in qvevri with skin contact, represents Georgia's most internationally distinctive contribution to the wine world, predating the modern 'orange wine' movement by millennia

A new generation of Georgian producers has elevated qvevri wines to international prominence while maintaining traditional fermentation protocols. Pheasant's Tears, founded in 2007 in Sighnaghi, Kakheti, by American painter John Wurdeman and Gela Patalishvili, whose family had been making wine for eight generations, has become one of the most internationally recognised advocates for traditional qvevri winemaking. All its wines ferment and age in qvevri, with maceration periods ranging from three weeks to six months depending on variety and style. Alaverdi Monastery, whose earliest structures date to the 6th century, has had a documented winemaking presence since the 11th century; its current cellar, built on the site of an 8th to 10th-century original, was restored and reopened in 2006. The craft of qvevri making itself is equally endangered and revered, with master artisans known as meqvevre passing skills through families in a small number of specialist villages.

• Pheasant's Tears (est. 2007, Sighnaghi, Kakheti) was founded by John Wurdeman and Gela Patalishvili and ferments all its wines in qvevri using natural yeasts, with some qvevri at the estate dating to the mid-19th century
• Alaverdi Monastery, whose foundations date to the 6th century and whose current cellar was restored in 2006, produces varietal qvevri wines including Rkatsiteli, Kisi, Khikhvi, Mtsvane, and Saperavi under the SINCE1011 label
• Master qvevri makers require approximately three months to hand-build a single vessel; once fired at around 500 degrees Celsius for one week, the interior is lined with beeswax to seal the porous clay
• Qvevri from Georgia are now exported to winemakers in Spain, Italy, France, Slovakia, and the United States, reflecting the global influence of the traditional vessel beyond its homeland

The 2013 UNESCO inscription recognised not merely a winemaking technique but an entire cultural system, including grape cultivation, the construction and maintenance of qvevri, communal harvesting practices known as rtveli, and the transmission of knowledge through families and village communities. UNESCO's documentation specifically notes that children learn to tend vines, press grapes, and make and fire qvevri by observing their elders, and that wine plays a vital role in both secular and religious life. The inscription was accompanied by growing institutional support: Georgia's National Wine Agency, the Georgian Wine Association, and multiple government bodies invested significantly in the archaeological research that validated the 8,000-year claim, while the 2021 PGI designation for qvevri as a vessel added a further layer of formal legal protection.

• UNESCO's Representative List inscription in 2013 (Decision 8.COM 8.13) acknowledged the qvevri method as practised throughout Georgia, particularly in village communities where unique grape varieties are grown
• The inscription covers the full cycle of knowledge transmission, from vine tending and grape pressing to qvevri manufacture and firing, recognising that the vessel and the winemaking practice are inseparable
• The 2021 Protected Geographical Indication for qvevri legally establishes Georgia as their sole origin, providing intellectual property protection alongside the cultural recognition of UNESCO
• International interest in qvevri winemaking has grown significantly since 2013, with producers in Italy, Slovenia, Spain, and elsewhere adopting the vessel, inspired partly by Italian producer Josko Gravner who pioneered its use in Collio in the late 1990s

Georgia's wine tourism has expanded substantially following the 2013 UNESCO inscription, with traditional wine villages such as Sighnaghi, Telavi, and the Alazani Valley attracting growing numbers of visitors. The marani, Georgia's traditional wine cellar, functions as the heart of winemaking life and has historically held quasi-sacred status within the family home. Visitors can participate in the grape harvest, known as rtveli, typically held in September and October in Kakheti, experience qvevri fermentation at working cellars, and take part in the supra, the traditional Georgian feast at which wine plays a central ceremonial role. Alaverdi Monastery in the Alazani Valley, Pheasant's Tears in Sighnaghi, and numerous small family cellars across Kakheti and Imereti offer direct access to living qvevri winemaking traditions.

• The Georgian harvest, rtveli, takes place in September and October in Kakheti, with wine tourism programmes allowing visitors to participate in picking, pressing, and the first filling of qvevri
• The marani, or wine cellar, has historically been considered the most sacred space in a Georgian family home, with qvevri wine marking all significant moments of human life from birth to religious ceremony
• Alaverdi Monastery in Kakheti, with foundations from the 6th century and a wine cellar restored in 2006, is one of the most historically significant wine tourism destinations in Georgia
• Pheasant's Tears in Sighnaghi operates a restaurant alongside its winery, creating an integrated experience of qvevri wine, traditional Georgian cuisine, and cultural heritage for international visitors