Teliani

Dry red from Cabernet, Kakheti

Teliani is a dry red from a micro-zone near Telavi. It is the only Georgian appellation based not on a native grape but on Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cabernet was brought to Kakheti in the late 19th century, during the Europeanisation of Georgian winemaking (the same milieu as the Chavchavadze estate at Tsinandali). The cool Telavi terroir gives structured, berry-and-spice wines.

Teliani shows another side of Georgian wine — the grafting of a 19th-century European tradition onto local soil.