The Kakhetian method

Classic full skin-contact qvevri style

The Kakhetian method is the oldest and best-known of Georgia's qvevri winemaking schools. Unlike the west-Georgian traditions, here the must ferments and ages on full pomace — skins, pips and stems together — for several months, often into spring.

This long skin contact gives deep colour, firm tannin and a characteristic dried-fruit note even in white grapes — this is how the «amber» wines of Kakheti (Rkatsiteli, Mtsvane) are born, known in the West as amber or orange wine. The Kakhetian school underlies Saperavi, Mukuzani, Kindzmarauli and most of Georgia's classic appellations.

Together with the Imeretian and Racha-Lechkhumi traditions, the Kakhetian method is the heart of the Georgian qvevri method inscribed by UNESCO on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage (2013).