15 Best Wine Shops in Tbilisi

Buying wine and learning why it tastes that way don't have to be 2 separate errands. Karalashvili is a wine store on Vertskhli Street whose tasting room is a 17th-century underground cellar, and the list runs to handcrafted qvevri wines, reds and chacha. Wine tasting takes 487 mentions in its review topics and knowledgeable staff another 329, which tells you where the effort goes. Its own listing welcomes walk-ins and recommends a reservation, so call ahead if you want the cellar quiet. It's open 11 AM to 11 PM daily, with happy hour from 2 to 4 PM on weekdays.

Most wine shops in this city are a single room at a single price level. Wine Gallery is 2 floors: a basement cellar holding huge vats of homemade wine, sold on draft, and a shop above it carrying rows of bottles. It's on Tsinamdzghvrishvili Street, which makes it the wine run if you're staying around Marjanishvili rather than the old town. Staff will take whatever you usually drink and find the bottle from there, and Google marks the place as a quick visit. It's open 10 AM to 9 PM every day, with delivery and in-store pickup on the same listing.

Shopping for wine here begins with a question about what you normally drink, and your answer decides what gets opened. Nino Meris Wine Selection is a shop and bar at 13 Sioni Street, beside the church, carrying the name of the Georgian winemaker who chooses the shelf. Its own listing sets out the pitch: amber wine, the qvevri method, indigenous grapes and the regions behind them, explained while you taste. One reviewer who wanted a single glass was told the explanation came with a tasting package, so bring an hour rather than 5 minutes. It's open 11 AM to 12:30 AM daily.

Plenty of wine shops will let you taste. This one puts the free tasting in its own listing description, above the stock. Wine Tower is a wine shop at 1 Jan Shardeni Street, and wine tasting takes 50 mentions in its review topics against 23 for knowledgeable staff. The owner does the pouring, which is why friendly owner carries 15 mentions of its own, and one reviewer counts about 200 Georgian producers on the shelves. It's open 11 AM to 12:30 AM every day, so a bottle run after dinner still works.

Buying wine goes better when somebody has already poured you a glass of it, and that's the arrangement here. Dadi is a wine bar and shop on Shalva Dadiani Street in Sololaki, built on artisan Georgian producers working with minimal intervention, and its own listing says the point is to drink, eat and take a bottle home afterwards. Google flags the wine list across 1,333 reviews at 4.7, and puts a meal in the 20 to 80 GEL band. The outside tables are the ones to want, dogs are allowed, and the doors run 10 AM to 1 AM, or 2 PM on Mondays.

Some wine shops sell you a bottle. This one packs it so it survives the flight. Ge-Wine is a small family-run shop at 79-81 Dimitri Uznadze Street, and its own listing leads with wine from its own production and a free tasting. Churchkhela carries 11 mentions in the review topics and souvenirs another 4, so tea, honey, jam and gifts share the shelves with the bottles. One reviewer left with padded packaging built to get bottles through a suitcase. It's open 12:30 to 7:30 PM every day, which is a 7-hour window, so make it an afternoon stop.

This is one you book rather than wander into: its Google listing marks an appointment as required. Wine Store Orbeliani is a family-owned shop and cellar on Anton Purtseladze Street in Old Tbilisi that makes its own wine and buys in from small wineries, with rare wines and small wineries both sitting in its review topics. The tastings run long: one table paid for an hour and had the host still pouring at 90 minutes. It's open 11 AM to 11 PM, and delivery goes until 2 AM.

Most wine shops hand you the bottle and then the door. Meghvine keeps chairs. It's a wine shop and bar in Vera, on Erekle Tatishvili Street, with a curated Georgian shelf that leans on traditional qvevri wine out of Kakheti and room to sit with whatever has just been opened. Its review topics put the wine selection at 16 mentions and a cosy room at 6. Check the day before you walk over: Thursdays and Saturdays are shut, Monday and Wednesday open at 9 AM, and Tuesday and Sunday at 2 PM.

Most wine shops will sell you a bottle. This one lets you taste before you buy, which changes what you walk out with. It's a wine store on Aleksandr Pushkin Street, a few steps from Freedom Square, holding 4.8 from 178 reviews, and its own listing is built on rare bottles from small wineries. Come here when you want the wine picked for a specific person or a specific dinner rather than off a shelf. Doors open at 1 PM and stay open to 11:55 PM on weekdays.

Old Tbilisi has a wine shop on almost every block, and what separates this one is that you can drink the qvevri wines by the glass instead of carrying them home. It's a wine bar on Ioane Shavteli Street holding 4.8 from 166 reviews, with cosy place at 5 mentions in its review topics, outdoor seating and warm staff at 4 each. Food comes over from Balcony 12, a few steps away. It's open 12 PM to 12 AM every day, which covers both the afternoon stop and the last glass.

This is a producer's shop rather than a curator's, so you're buying one house's cellar rather than a shelf of small labels. Winery Khareba sits on Shota Rustaveli Avenue at 4.7 from 370 reviews, and its own listing runs through the varieties it grows: Saperavi, Ojaleshi, Usakhelouri, Tsolikouri, Rkatsiteli, Khikhvi and a dozen more, plus Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Consultations take 4 mentions in its review topics, so the counter will walk you through it. Come here when you want a known label at a known price rather than a small-batch surprise. It opens 10 AM to 9 PM every day.

This one is less a shop you walk into than a session you book. Sancho is a wine bar on Giorgi Akhvlediani Street, rated 4.8 from 142 reviews at 40 to 80 GEL a head, and its own listing dates the place to 1996. Masterclass takes 11 mentions in its review topics, khinkali and Georgian wine 10 each, and wine making 4. Come here when you have an afternoon and want the wine explained rather than handed over. Reservations are required, so call ahead; it's open 12 PM to 11 PM daily, and dogs are allowed.

Prices are the point here, and so is the litre. Wine Time is a small wine store on Samreklo Street right by Sameba Cathedral, holding 4.9 from 89 reviews, and its listing marks it as a quick visit rather than somewhere to settle in. The shelves carry souvenirs alongside the bottles, and the staff work in English and Russian. Come here when you're stocking a flat for the week or filling a bottle to take to dinner. It's open 10 AM to 10 PM every day and takes cards.

You won't stumble on this one. Zuzu's is a micro-winery out in Vazisubani, on Z. Pataradze Street in Isani-Samgori, and it holds 5 from 63 reviews with atmosphere leading its review topics at 6 mentions. Its own listing puts the tasting at no charge and keeps the range to wine and chacha. One reviewer's practical note is that the place is hard to find, and the beer shop nearby holds an owner's number. Come here when you'd rather buy from the person who made it than from a shelf, and the doors stay open 10 AM to 12 AM.

You're buying out of a cellar here, not off a shelf: the listing dates the room to the 17th century, and the terrace out front is where the glass gets drunk. Vinoground is on Kote Apkhazis Street in the old city, 4.7 from 219 reviews, pouring from more than 120 craft wineries. Wine tasting leads its review topics at 16 mentions, the sommelier at 8, free tasting and rare wines at 4 each. Come here when you have an hour and no idea what you're looking for. It's open to 12:30 AM, and 1:30 AM on Friday and Saturday.