Private Wine Tour in Kakheti with Wine Tastings

The architectural ensemble Dzveli Suamta is situated 7km of Telavi. Its consists of a 5th century basilica, one of the most curious examples of Christian Georgian architecture; a 17th century domed church of a type close to the Mtskheta Jvari Church but of a smaller size (with a smaller depth of the apses; an increased significance of the dome drum and a more pronounced design of the tromps); a small 7th century domed church which is also of a cross design in plan, but without corner rooms and with equal axes. The church was built of cobblestones; the corner was faced with hewn stones. In the 16th century Zveli Shuamta Monastery was abandoned.

Akhali Shuamta Monastery was built by Tinatin Gurieli, the wife of King Levan II (1520-1574). The Church had a dome and was designed in the form of a cross in plan. It was built of brick; the inner walls were decorated with paintings and some of the portraits of the founders have been preserved. The Church was restored by Irakli II. The complex includes also a bell-tower and some minor buildings. A Chavchavadze was buried here.

Gremi was the capital of the Kingdom of Kakheti in the 16th and 17th centuries. Founded by Levan of Kakheti, it functioned as a lively trading town on the Silk Road and royal residence until being razed to the ground by the armies of Shah Abbas I of Persia in 1615. The town never regained its past prosperity and the kings of Kakheti transferred their capital to Telavi in the mid-17th century.

Winery Khareba owns an unique and rare wine cellar located in Kvareli, in the Alazani Valley. Carved inside the Caucasus mountains and opened in 1962 for the OIV World Congress, the cellar/tunnel is 7,7 kilometers long. The best wines of the Kakheti region have been stored and aged here for decades. The tunnel preserves a natural temperature of 12-14° Celcius with a humidity rate of 70%; the ideal conditions for wine preservation.Tunnel consists of 2 main and 13 interconnecting 500 meter tunnels. The total length of the construction is 7.7 kilometers. There are two purposes of the tunnel : Tourism and winemaking. The visitor can see more than 25 000 bottles of Winery Khareba premium wines aging there and buy some of them available at unique and amazing inside shop.