How to experience Sighnaghi and its gorgeous wine

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When I think about our trip to Georgia, our memories from Sighnaghi always make me smile. Think sleepy little town with terracotta rooftops in a picturesque location filled with breathtaking views. Sighnaghi town is situated at the top of a hilltop and is home to ancient monasteries and churches. It is also the heart of winemaking in Georgia’s Kakheti region, and the wine here speaks volumes about their 8000 years of winemaking history. Without much ado, here’s how to experience Sighnaghi and its gorgeous Georgian wine.

 

 

 

 

How to Experience Sighnaghi’s Gorgeous Wine

Kakheti, Georgia’s wine region produces nearly 3/4 of the country’s wine grapes. Wineries both small and large-scale and even the local families in this region use the age-old method of fermenting whole grapes in clay vessels called qvevri.

Sighnaghi, one of the most popular cities in this region is the hot spot for experiencing these wineries and Georgia’s cultural heritage. Even though Sighnaghi is popularly known as ‘the city of love’ amongst the locals, you would be traveling there to taste some of the most exquisite Georgian wine.

We are listing some of the wineries that really stood out in Sighnaghi and allowed us to experience Sighnaghi’s Gorgeous wine.

Cradle of Wine

Cradle of Wine tops the list of wine-tasting experiences in Georgia and for good reasons. It’s a small cellar in the city center, offering 6 generous glasses of wine-tasting clubbed with traditional cheese. You will pay around 40 GEL per person, for not just the wine but a beautiful set-up overlooking the town and the Caucasus Mountains. The wine itself is natural wine as the family harvests all grapes through organic processes and the winery can hold up to 30,000 liters of wine.

The only thing we would recommend is not going here empty stomach, as Cradle of Wine doesn’t offer any food other than a cheese platter. If you are going in peak tourist season, we would also recommend making a reservation in advance.

 

 

Peasant’s Tears

Peasant’s Tears is one of the most popular restaurants in Sighnaghi, that also allows wine tasting. The restaurant has a very charming and cozy set-up. All their wines are natural wines, and a little dry in nature. We went there specifically to taste their amber wine, something very specific to Georgia.

The restaurant offers some vegetarian dishes, however, they failed to impress us. Even the wine felt that it had been open for a long time and had lost its taste and flavor. Nevertheless, we bought a bottle of amber wine for home and the fresh wine was absolutely delicious.

 

OKRO’s Natural Wine Restaurant 

OKRO’s Natural Wine Restaurant is another very popular place in Sighnaghi that offers wine tasting. The restaurant combines a winery downstairs and a restaurant with a lovely view upstairs. The view of Sighnaghi from the restaurant is absolutely stunning, especially during golden hour.

Since we went here for dinner after wine tasting at the Cradle of Wine, we didn’t do the tasting but enjoyed a glass of wine each overlooking the view. The food was delicious as well, and the restaurant served traditional Georgian food with loads of vegetarian options.

How to Experiencing Sighnaghi

Now that we have covered how you can experience Sighnaghi’s gorgeous wines, let’s talk about the town itself. Sighnaghi is a charming little town, situated on the hilltop offering panoramic views of the Alazani Valley, the Caucasus Mountains, and vineyards in the region. The town used to be a fortress, so you will see part of the crumbling wall ingrained in the buildings and architecture. There are so many little activities you can do to explore and fall in love with the town.

Explore the Old Town & City Center

Sighnaghi’s old town and city center are really charming, filled with cobbled stoned streets and soviet style architecture. The famous postcard image of Sighnaghi is the picture-perfect view encompassing the Church of St. George and the Alazani Valley. The town radiates a romantic ambiance in the evening, which is hard to describe in words.

 

 

Walk the walls of the Fortress

The stroll through the Fortress walls is one of the major attractions of Sighnaghi. It was built in the 18th century by the last monarch of Georgia, Erekle II. We can’t describe the breathtaking views it has to offer and should definitely be on your itinerary.

 

Shop for homemade wine and carpets

All around Sighnaghi, you will see vendors selling unique items like carpets, homemade wine, trinkets, traditional sweets (churchkhela), Georgian spices, etc. The vendors are very sweet and friendly and some of them will indeed give you a free wine tasting with the hopes of you making a purchase. We found everything very reasonable and bought a few souvenirs for us to take home.

How to reach Sighnaghi

We traveled to Sighnaghi via road from Kazbegi. There are two routes you could take to Sighnaghi i.e. one via Tbilisi and the other via Telavi. We took the Telavi route as the drive is prettier even though a longer route. The total journey as per Google Maps was 5+ hours. However, it took us much longer as there were some bad patches of road along the way.

We recommend stopping at Lagazi wine cellar for lunch. It’s a family-owned small wine cellar but very homely and was suggested to us by a local. Definitely recommend reserving a place in advance if you are planning to go here for lunch.

If by any chance, you are unable to make a reservation at Lagazi, we recommend stopping at Apsaiti restaurant in Telavi. The restaurant serves a selection of local brewery Alkhanaidze’s beers (along with food!) in a rustic indoor space and a huge outdoor area.

Also read:

• Our detailed travel itinerary for Georgia: 1 amazing week in Georgia
• Exploring Tbilisi’s quirky side through its experiences, sightseeing, and cuisine: 16 Unique Things To Do in Tbilisi, Georgia

Where to stay at Sighnaghi

For a slow relaxed trip, we suggest staying two nights here. There are many locations offering breathtaking views at a very reasonable price. Since we wanted to stay in the city center, we booked accommodation at Sighnaghi Art Hotel. The room had a very unique decor with the old city wall ingrained into the hotel’s structure.

You could also consider staying at Lost Ridge Inn for a unique experience as the hotel offers many activities like cycling, hiking, horse riding, fishing, bike tours, cooking classes, etc.

 

We hope our article – How to experience Sighnaghi and its gorgeous wine – compels you to include this charming town in your travel itinerary.

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