The Sommelier’s Choice: Six Bottles to Start With
Sommeliers ChoicePeople usually ask for one bottle. One bottle is the wrong number — Georgian wine covers too much ground for a single introduction.
Six is enough to draw the map: an amber, a mountain white, a rosé, two reds and something sweet from Racha.
Start With the Amber
It is the style the country is known for and the one least like anything else you will have drunk.
Serve it cool but not cold, in a proper glass, and with food. It is not an aperitif.
Six bottles is enough to draw the map.
Section title
Then Work Outwards
After the amber, a fresh Tsolikouri from Imereti will reset the palate and show the other half of the country.
Finish with Saperavi. It is dark, structured and unmistakably itself.
Serving Temperatures
Amber wants 14–16°C, not fridge-cold. Reds want 16–18°C, not room temperature in August.
Glassware
One good universal glass beats a cupboard of specialised ones.
What matters:
- enough bowl to swirl
- a rim that narrows slightly
- thin glass at the lip
- clean, unscented storage
- no dishwasher rinse aid
