Churi Chinebuli Winery

Churi Chinebuli is a small family winery in Meore Sviri, in the heart of Imereti in western Georgia. This is a different Georgia from the one most visitors know: where Kakheti in the east is warm, powerful and famous, Imereti is green, hilly and fresh, and its wines are lighter, crisper and more aromatic. The winery works almost entirely with indigenous western Georgian varieties — Tsitska, Tsolikouri, Krakhuna, Otskhanuri Sapere, Ojaleshi — several of which grow nowhere else in the world. Sviri itself is one of Georgia's protected appellations of origin, so a visit here is a visit to a named place on the wine map, not simply a countryside stop. At the centre of the estate stands the marani, where wine is fermented and aged in churi — the western Georgian name for the clay vessels known elsewhere as qvevri, buried to the neck in the earth. This 8,000-year-old method is recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage, and at Churi Chinebuli it is still working practice rather than museum display, used alongside stainless steel and French oak in underground cellars. Visitors can see the buried vessels in the ground, understand how amber wine is actually made, and taste the difference between a churi wine and a classic one side by side — the clearest possible introduction to what makes Georgian winemaking unlike anywhere else. The estate also carries its own piece of history. An ancient oak tree shades the courtyard, and local legend holds that in the 18th century King Solomon the Great of Imereti rested beneath it on his way back to Kutaisi after battle; offered Krakhuna instead of water, he was so taken with the wine that he ordered it served at his table thereafter. Sviri's reputation later travelled as far as the Russian imperial court. Today the wines are recognised internationally — Silver and Bronze at the Decanter World Wine Awards, gold at the Asia Wine Trophy, and honours at the Imereti Wine Challenge — while the winery itself remains family-run and small-scale. It sits within easy reach of Kutaisi and its international airport, making it a natural half-day addition to itineraries built around western Georgia, Prometheus Cave, Gelati and Bagrati.