The Racha-Lechkhumi method

Naturally semi-sweet qvevri wines

The Racha-Lechkhumi tradition is the third classic school of Georgian qvevri winemaking, alongside the Kakhetian and Imeretian ones. Its distinctive feature is not the pomace but the cold: the high-mountain cellars of Racha and Lechkhumi are so cool that autumn fermentation in the qvevri stops of its own accord, before all the sugar has fermented.

This is how naturally semi-sweet wines are born — with no chemical arrest of fermentation and no added sugar: some of the grape sugar simply remains in the wine. The method underlies the famous red Khvanchkara (Aleksandrouli and Mujuretuli), the white Tvishi (Tsolikouri) and the very rare Usakhelouri.

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