📍 Racha

Racha is a mountain wine area in north-western Georgia on the upper Rioni, best known for naturally semi-sweet red wines. Georgian law lists Racha as a viticulture zone of its own, separate from neighbouring Lechkhumi. ² The National Wine Agency describes Racha–Lechkhumi as a region set apart by scarce vineyards and rare grape varieties. ¹

Where the vines grow. Racha covers most of Ambrolauri district, and its vineyards grow mainly on the slopes of the Rioni gorge. Lower Racha is famous for the Khvanchkara micro-zone, while Lechkhumi has the micro-zones of Tsageri, Orbeli, Alpana-Tvishi and Zubi-Okureshi. ¹ The Khvanchkara micro-zone spreads over both banks of the Rioni, between the Lechkhumi and Racha ranges. ³

Rare grapes. The most widespread varieties are Tsulukidze Tetra and Tsolikouri, Aleksandrouli, Mujuretuli, Rachuli Dzelshavi, Usakhelauri and Orbeluri. ¹ Aleksandrouli and Mujuretuli are counted as ancient local Rachan varieties, studied by scientists since 1886. ³

Mountain climate. In the Khvanchkara micro-zone the climate is humid, with moderately cold winters and hot, fairly dry summers; the sun shines 1,900–2,000 hours a year, with more clear days than elsewhere in western Georgia. About 1,050–1,100 mm of rain falls a year, frosts last from early November to early April, and grapes for semi-sweet wine are picked only in the second half of October. ³

Famous wines. Khvanchkara is made from Aleksandrouli and Mujuretuli with 30–45 g/l of the grapes' own sugar and may be sold only after 1 January following the harvest. ³ In Lechkhumi the Tvishi micro-zone gives a naturally semi-sweet white from Tsolikouri, and the region also makes Usakhelouri and Orbeli Ojaleshi. ¹ In 2025 Georgia's list of appellations grew to 33, adding Racha and Lechkhumi as names of their own. ⁴

Why the wine is semi-sweet. Until 1942 Rachan farmers relied on the weather: autumn and winter cold stopped fermentation, spring warmth restarted it, and the sweetness was unstable. From 1942 new technology and wineries made it possible to stop fermentation reliably and keep the natural sugar. ³

Harvest 2025. Racha processed a record of up to 3,000 tonnes of grapes, mostly Aleksandrouli and Mujuretuli; more than 1,400 growers brought in the crop and earned 23.5 million lari. ⁵ The state paid wineries a subsidy of 4 lari per kg for these grapes if they paid growers at least 8 lari per kg. ⁴

Harvest 2026. By 30 October the harvest in Racha was over, with about 3,600 tonnes of Aleksandrouli and Mujuretuli processed, while in Lechkhumi about 500 of a forecast 1,300 tonnes had been picked. The subsidy of 4 lari per kg again went to companies that processed at least 3 tonnes of Khvanchkara grapes and paid growers at least 8 lari per kg. ⁶

Why it matters to you. Racha's grapes are rare: its 3,600 tonnes compare with about 314,500 tonnes processed in Kakheti in 2026. ⁶ Khvanchkara and Tvishi are among the Georgian wine names protected in the EU. ⁷ WHO stresses that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. ⁸