Food is a very important part of our travel. Georgian cuisine is a rich interaction of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern tastes. Every place has its own characteristic cuisine. Each region has its trademark dish that is prepared at best in that very region. Kakheti is distinguished with its unique food traditions and wine culture. Kakhetian cuisine is famous throughout Georgia. Kakhetian cuisine is famous for Wine, Mtsvadi (barbecued meat on a stick), Khashlama (boiled meat with greens, spices, and local vegetables), Chakapuli (beef or lamb stewed in white wine, with sour plums, tarragon, leaf coriander, and spices).

Wine

Kakheti is the most important wine region in Georgia. During our stay in Kakheti, we visited several wine cellars, each of them was different from each other. Pheasant’s Tears winery is located in Sighnaghi. All of their wines at Pheasant’s Tears are fermented and aged in Qvevri. They built a cellar in the vineyard itself to minimize the damage to the grapes in transportation. The cellar also has a restaurant where you can taste delicious local food. The pheasant’s Tear winery belongs to the family. They were very friendly and showed us different cooking techniques.

Chateau Mere

Next was hotel Chateau Mere, near Telavi. Chateau Mere offers a dramatic panoramic view of the Caucasus mountains and the Alazani Valley. The visitors can learn about traditional wine-aking styles, taste Chateau Mere’s Wines, crush grapes in ‘’ Satsnakheli,“ a traditional boat-shaped foot-stomping wood vessel. Here we met the chef of the restaurant who gave us a local wine and food tour.

Shaloshvili’s Cellar Hotel

Shaloshvilis cellar hotel is located in the village Shilda, Kvareli. The hotel is in the middle of the vineyard, surrounded by mountains.

They produce their wine in the bottles. The staff is really friendly and helpful. We had an excellent wine tasting experience here with the owner –Alexi Shaloshvili and ended up buying a few bottles of wine.

Chateau Zegaani

Chateau Zegaani is a wine estate built-in 1820 by Prince Alexander Chavchavadze,located in Kakheti and represents an important historical, architectural, and historiographical value in respect of studying the development of winemaking in this area.

Alexander Chavchavadze built the estate in the fashion of the majority of French wine chateaux of the early 19th century upon his return from France.

Nowadays the owner of Chateau Zegaani is the Talulashvili family. For their wines, they only use Georgian grape varieties, such as Saperavi and Rkatsiteli. As they said to us, they do not use pesticides in these vineyards.