Lonely Planet: “Ten of the world’s most intriguing wine regions”

Buried in the backyards of villagers’ homes in Georgia’s central Kakheti region lies some of the greatest wines a person can find.

With this description infamous travel guide Lonely Planet has described Georgian wine from Kakheti – the country’s famous winemaking region.

Lonely Planet’s new book Wine Trails plots a course through 52 of the world’s greatest wine regions and picked out 10 of the most intriguing regions to show why tasting wine in the place it was made can be a revelation.

Georgia’s Kakheti was on the list.

The Georgian wine experience is like no other. The story of wine here is so old, so real, that it can make what we know of ancient Greece and Rome seem like recent history,” writes Lonely Planet.

Georgia is widely recognised as the land where man first learned to tame the wild grapevine, around 6000BC. In most of the country, winemaking technology has changed little since then. Grapes are still harvested by hand, and foot-pressed in the hollowed-out trunks of ancient trees. The juice flows into underground clay amphoras, where it ferments and matures without additives or manipulation.

The online article notes Kakheti is "the most important Georgian wine region”.

"The small city of Sighnaghi is Kakheti’s cultural capital, and it’s the gateway to any visit. As you’re touring, remember that Kakheti’s greatest wines tend not to be found in the open, but in villagers’ backyards, buried underground, awaiting release.”

Read the full article here: www.lonelyplanet.com