Top 10 Distilleries in Georgia (Caucasus)
Georgia claims the oldest continuous winemaking tradition on earth — archaeologists have found grape-wine residue in clay vessels here dating back some 8,000 years. Where there is that much wine, there is pomace, and where there is pomace, there is chacha. Distilled from the grape skins, stems and seeds left after the harvest, chacha is the clear, potent grape spirit of the Caucasus, the Georgian cousin of grappa and tsikoudia, and a fixture of village hospitality from the vineyards of Kakheti to the subtropical coast of the Black Sea. Strong, often homemade, and offered with the same insistent generosity as the country's wine, chacha is Georgia distilled.
What chacha is
Chacha is a pomace brandy made from the marc of winemaking — the skins, pips and stalks left after the grapes are pressed. After fermentation, this material is distilled, traditionally in a simple copper still over an open fire, to produce a clear spirit usually bottled between 40 and 65 percent alcohol; village chacha can run considerably stronger. Because Georgia's winemaking centres on indigenous grapes, chacha carries the imprint of varieties found nowhere else: the white Rkatsiteli and the red Saperavi above all. Some chacha is distilled not from pomace but from whole grapes or even unsold table grapes, and the finest examples are rested in oak to soften into a golden, brandy-like spirit.
Kakheti: the heartland
Kakheti, the broad sun-drenched valley in eastern Georgia, is the country's principal wine region and therefore the engine of its chacha. Around the towns of Telavi and Sighnaghi — the latter a hilltop town of red roofs overlooking the Alazani valley toward the Caucasus peaks — almost every household makes wine, and the pomace becomes chacha as a matter of course. This is the home of the qvevri, the large egg-shaped clay vessel buried in the ground in which Georgians ferment and age wine; the skins pressed from those qvevri are precisely what the still then transforms. A Kakhetian supra, the ritual feast, will not end without chacha.
The qvevri and the ancient method
The defining vessel of Georgian winemaking is the qvevri, recognised by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage. These clay amphorae, lined with beeswax and buried up to their necks in the earth of the marani (cellar), ferment the grapes skins-and-all, producing the deep-coloured, tannic amber wines for which Georgia is now globally celebrated. Chacha is the natural by-product of this skin-contact tradition: the grape solids that have given their colour and tannin to the wine still hold sugar and aroma enough to distil. The continuity between qvevri wine and chacha is the thread that ties the whole Georgian drinking culture together.
Racha, Imereti and the western styles
West of the Likhi range that divides Georgia, the regions of Imereti and Racha bring their own character. Imereti, around the city of Kutaisi, makes lighter, fresher wines in smaller qvevri and a correspondingly lively chacha. Mountainous Racha, higher and cooler, is famous for the naturally semi-sweet red Khvanchkara and produces small quantities of prized chacha. These western regions are less industrial and more village-scale than Kakheti, and a chacha tasted here is very often poured from an unlabelled bottle by the family that distilled it.
The Black Sea coast and Adjara
On the subtropical Black Sea coast, the region of Adjara around the port city of Batumi gives chacha a different setting entirely. Here, amid tea plantations, citrus groves and humid green hills, chacha is part of a coastal hospitality culture. Batumi even hosts a landmark Chacha Tower (Chacha Clock Tower) on its seafront — built, in legend, to dispense free chacha from a fountain on special occasions — a piece of civic showmanship that captures the spirit's status as a national symbol. The coast's milder climate and different food culture frame chacha as readily with grilled fish as with the meat feasts of the interior.
Commercial chacha and the modern producers
Alongside the vast informal village production, Georgia has a growing commercial chacha sector. Major wine houses in Kakheti now bottle branded, quality-controlled chacha — some clear, some oak-aged — for the domestic market and for export, presenting the spirit with the same seriousness as the country's wines. Premium aged chacha, golden from time in barrel, is positioned as Georgia's answer to cognac or fine grappa, and is increasingly found on international back bars. These producers are professionalising a spirit that for centuries existed almost entirely as a homemade tradition.
How to drink chacha
Chacha is drunk neat, in small glasses, and almost always within the ritual of the Georgian table. At a supra, the tamada (toastmaster) leads a sequence of elaborate toasts — to peace, to ancestors, to guests — and chacha frequently punctuates them, downed in one after the words are spoken. It is a digestif as much as an aperitif, traditionally credited with warming the body and aiding digestion after a heavy feast. Pair it with the abundant Georgian table: khachapuri cheese bread, khinkali dumplings, walnut-rich vegetable dishes, and grilled meats.
Planning a chacha journey
To experience chacha properly, combine Kakheti's wine country with the western regions and the coast. Base yourself in Telavi or Sighnaghi for the Kakhetian heartland, where wineries offer tastings of both qvevri wine and chacha, and the autumn rtveli (grape harvest) is the most atmospheric time to visit. Detour west to Imereti and Racha for village-scale production, and to Batumi for the coastal experience. Accept every toast you are offered, eat heartily alongside, and treat the chacha as the Georgians do: as the warm conclusion to a shared table.
Explore on the map
From the qvevri cellars of Kakheti around Telavi and Sighnaghi to the highland vineyards of Racha and the Black Sea coast at Batumi, Georgia's chacha country is spread across the map. Use it to plan a route linking the wine regions where the spirit is born with the coastal and mountain areas that give it their own flavour. To place the country in its Caucasian context, find Georgia on the map alongside its neighbours.