Top Wines: 2025 Wine Ambassadors Wyndham Grand Tbilisi (1st May) & Saamuri (4th May) Review

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Wine Ambassadors Event at Wyndham Grand (on May 1st 2025) was a well curated tasting event which featured maybe 50 producers, back for it’s second year, the overall standard is very high. I managed to taste 97 wines from 35 producers.

Saamuri Natural Wine Festival (May 4th 2025) is hosted by the Saamuri wine salon at Fabrika – one of Tbilisi’s renowned up-cycled event spaces and hostel. This is a very small event with about 30 producers, all natural wine, selected by the wine bar. I managed to taste 107 wines from 26 producers.

So, a total of 204 wines (inc 3 ciders), from 61 producers over 2 days.

Of the many wines tasted, the majority were rated “good” or “acceptable”. And by this, I mean wines that we can objectively say to have merit, and some enjoyable characteristics that make them successful. These didn’t make the list, below are the wines I considered to be a step above.

I should be clear, that “good” really is pretty decent. These are wines you’d enjoy drinking. Getting a higher rating than “good” means producing a wine that stands out against all other wines tasted, with better balance and relevant characteristics. “Acceptable” being an everyday wine that is fine but you won’t be getting excited about.

Not too many wines were rated “poor” or “faulty”. These are wines that would not be recommended at all (poor wines) or had suffered from wine faults such as volatile acidity, TCA (cork taint), volatile sulfur compounds, etc. at a level to make the wines unpalatable.

Though we try to be as objective as possible in these assessments, some things should be taken into account:

• Blind tasting was not possible, so small biases may exist inadvertently.
• I do often tell producers to “show me the best 2 wines” or something similar, so I am probably getting a better experience than someone who just says “saperavi, please”.
• The tasting environment of a busy event is not ideal and some factors affect the tasting:
  • Environmental odors – from people walking around with coffee to strong perfume etc.
  • Full rinsing of glasses between every tasting was impractical, though we tried as best as possible.

We only tasted the majority of producers across 2 days of events, but definitely not all.

We did not taste every wine from each vendor we tried.

So, we definitely will have missed some excellent wines. But from what we did taste, we hope you will enjoy discovering some of the below which we gave upper category ratings.

Ratings are based on Balance / Length / Intensity / Complexity and Style (ie. how they fit within the category of the style/intention of the wine). A “very good” rating would be made when 3 to 4 of these criteria have been met successfully. Some consideration is given to young wines that have the potential to arrive at this level in an expected timeframe of aging.

There are many more wine festivals coming soon, and we will publish our favorites for those too. Check out reviews from Zero Compromise (2nd/3rd May 2025) which happened the same weekend. With 3 days of wine expo coming up June 2025, there will be lots more wines to discover!

Wine Ambassadors Wyndham Grand Tbilisi (Thu 1st May, 2025)

97 wines from 35 wineries tasted.

In order of which i did the tastings, not in order of preference. 

Most wines below achieved “very good” or better. But I’ve also Included a few that were on the cusp from good to very good and also deserved a mention. My “personal top picks” are wines I felt were the best, but also wines I personally liked to my preferred taste.

1. Zeiani – Kisi Qvevri 2023
2. Simonica Chkheidze – Otskhanuri Sapere Qvevri 2019
3. Ethno Okami
   1. Chinuri / Goruli Mtsvane Euro 2023
   2. Khashmis Saperavi 2021
4. Aragvispiri – Tavkveri Euro 2024
5. Ateni Terraces
   1. Chinuri / Goruli Mtsvane Euro 2022
   2. Shavkapito Euro 2022 – Personal Top Pick
6. Vivere – Tibaani Rkatsiteli Qvevri 2024
7. Barbale (Imereti) – Krakhuna (Sviri) Euro 2022
8. Churi Chinebuli
   1. Krakhuna Euro 2024 – Personal Top Pick
   2. Krakhuna / Ojaleshi Rosé Euro 2024
9. Marani Gvazi – Ojaleshi (Traditional Method Sparkling) 2022
10. Baia’s Wine – Krakhuna 2023
11. Kardenakhi 1888
    1. Mtsvane Qvevri 2022
    2. Khikhvi Qvevri 2022
    3. Tsarapi (Rkatsiteli) Qvevri 2020 (rated previously, still great)
    4. Akhoebi (Saperavi) Euro 2021
    5. Kardenakhi (Rkatsiteli / Mtsvane / Khikhvi) Fortified 2018 (rated previously, still great)
12. Mamiseuli – Tavkveri qvevri 2022
13. KE
    1. Muscat / Pinot Noir Pet-Nat 2024
    2. White Muscat Euro Semi-Dry 2024
    3. Pink Muscat Semi-Sweet 2024
14. Kardenakhi Estate
    1. Rkatsiteli Qvevri 2021
    2. Rkatsiteli Qvevri + Oak 2021
15. Babanerius – Saperavi Qvevri 2022

25 wines, from 15 wineries in the upper category!

Saamuri Natural Wine Festival, Fabrika, Tbilisi (Sun 4th May, 2025)

107 wines from 26 wineries tasted.

In order of which i did the tastings, not in order of preference. 

Most wines below achieved “very good” or better. But I’ve also Included a few that were on the cusp from good to very good and also deserved a mention. 

1. Tanini – Rkatsiteli 2024
2. Malinga (Austria)
   1. Rotburger (Zwiegelt) Rosé Euro (Oak vats) 2023
   2. Rotburger / Cabernet Sauvignon / Sauvignon Blanc 2022+ 2023 blend
   3. Rotburger Red 2022
   4. Grüner Veltline 2023
   5. Riesling (10% skin contact) 2023
   6. Riesling 2 years on oak 2021
3. La Rogaie (Tuscany)
   1. Toscana Bianco Blend Euro 2024
   2. Sangiovese + white grapes blend Rosé 2024
   3. Sangiovese Micro – Cement 2021
4. Amali – Aladasturi 2024
5. Newcomers – this is a cooperative group of different winemakers under 1 brand
   1. Tsolikouri / Otskhanuri Sapere (skins) Rosé 2023
   2. Rkatsiteli (Steel tank, 7 days skins) 2024
   3. Goruli Mtsvane / Shavkapito (20%) 2024
6. Angaura – Goruli Mtsvabe Euro 2024
7. Kinsurashvili – Mtsvane (Manavi) Qvevri 2022
8. Datikos Wine – Mtsvane / Khikhvi (15%) Qvevri 2024
9. Imerishvilis – Rkatsiteli (Valo) (21 days skins, steel tank) 2024 – Personal Top Pick (note: 2 Rkatsiteli’s under this brand name, “Zura” was also good, but “Valo” was top)
10. Mzis Tvali
    1. Mtsvane / Khikhvi (20%) Qvevri 2024
    2. Rkatsiteli / Khikhvi (40%) / Mtsvane (20%) Qvevri 2022 – Personal Top Pick
    3. Rkatsiteli / Saperavi Skins Rosé Euro 2024
    4. Rkatsiteli Pet-Nat 2024
11. Oda Wines – Tsolikouri / Dzelshavi Skins 2024
12. Vintners & Vagabonds
    1. Tsolikouri (Vani Vineyard, acacia barrel) 2023
    2. Tsolikouri (Lechkhumi, acacia barrel) 2023
    3. Dzelshavi / Tsolikouri / Tsitska / Kvishkhuri 2024
    4. Dzelshavi Qvevri 2022
13. Canavar Baglari (Turkey)
    1. Karasakiz (Red) 2022
    2. Karasakiz (Red) 2023
14. Menabde (Racha)
    1. Mtsvane Kakhuri 2024
    2. Kisi (From Udabno) 2024
    3. Alexandrouli / Mujuretuli Semi Dry 2023

32 wines, from 14 wineries in the upper category!

Thanks to The Amazing Winemakers!

TOTAL: 57 Wines from 29 wineries in the upper category across the 2 days.

Congratulations to all the amazing wineries that made it into our upper category ratings. As well as all the other amazing winemakers who continue to make the Georgian wines scene one of the most interesting in the world!

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