Over 2 days of the Zero Compromise Tbilisi wine festival (May 1st&2nd 2026), I managed to taste 200 wines from 47 producers.
Another very well attended event with Zero Compromise 2026. The wine, food and atmosphere make this one of the must-go wine festivals of the year in Tbilisi.
As for the wines, the majority were rated “good” or “acceptable”. And by this, I mean wines that we can objectively say to have merit, and enjoyable characteristics that make them successful.
I should be clear, that “good” really is good enough, enjoyable wines. “Acceptable” is ok everyday table wine, not offensive, but not noteworthy. I’m not going to list these ones here. Below you will find my list of the top wines.
Only a minority of wines were rated “poor” or “faulty”. These are wines that would not be worth drinking (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.
Some with minor faults may be actually of interest to some natural wine drinkers, as small amounts do not necessarily destroy the wine experience, and there seems to be a preference in some palates for “a bit funky”, residual yeast tastes and other things that are very much a subjective preference. Up to you!
The new Zero Compromise venue (District 4 Venue next to Radio City) is a little further from the city and probably difficult to find for those not familiar with the area. For some reason spittoons were not available this year, hopefully the organisers will solve that next year.
Though I 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.
- The tasting environment of a busy indoor festival is not ideal and some factors affect the tasting:
- Environmental odors – from people walking around with coffee to strong perfume etc.
- Inconsistent lighting for assessing appearance and color.
- Full rinsing of glasses between every tasting was impractical, though I tried as best as possible.
- 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”.
We tasted a little over half of all vendors on offer.
We did not taste every wine from each vendor.
So, we may 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.
My reviews for Wine Ambassadors (Sheraton Metekhi 3rd May) & Women In Wine Fetival (Apr 26th) 2026 are posted here.
Zero Compromise (Natural Wine Association) May 1st+2nd 2026
200 tastings from 47 wineries.
In order of which I did the tastings, not in order of preference.
All wines below achieved “very good” or on the cusp of “good” to “very good”. Essentially, wines that are noteworthy. But not all will be the preference of every palate!
- Dano
- Rkatsiteli 2024 Euro
- Beer (small batch)
- Grdzelmtvane / Buera / Mtsvane 2024 Euro
- Alfaprivativo (Italy)
- Trebbiano (90%) / Malvasia (10%) Qvevri (Amphora) 2024
- Chilijolo (90%) / Merlot (10%) Fiberglass 2025
- Porta Bohemica – Chardonnay / Pinot Noir (25%) 2021
- Bagratis Wine
- Mgaloblishvili (Light Red) 2022
- Ojaleshi Semi-Dry 2024
- Mesashuna (Turkey)
- Rkatsiteli Qvevri 2024, 9 days skin contact
- Rkatsiteli Qvevri 2024, 5 months skin contact
- Weingut Maria & Sepp Muster
- Zwiegelt / Blaufrankisch / Blauerwildbacher Rosé 2021 – Personal Top Pick
- Sauvignon Blanc 2021
- Agricola Foradori (Dolomites, Italy)
- Teroldego 2022 (cooler plot)
- Teroldego 2022 (warmer plot)
- Miloravas
- Kisi Khikhvi Mtsvane Qvevri (no skins) 2025
- Rkatsiteli Qvevri 2024
- Saperavi Qvevri 2024
- Montepulciano Syrah qvevri (+oak 12 months) 2023
- Lagvani – Saperavi Qvevri 2023 (many wines from here have made the list in the past. I did not retaste the same wines. Hence only 1 here. We often visit this winery as part of our Telavi tour.)
- Likokuli – Saperavi Qvevri 2025
- Simonica
- Ojaleshi Pet Nat 2025 – Personal Top Pick
- Otsukanuri Sapere rosé 2020
- Otkanuri Sapere Qvevri 2015
- TD Winery
- Goruli Mtsvane Pet Nat 2025
- Budeshuri Tetri, Euro 2024
- Sherma
- Goruli Mtsvane, Pet Nat 2025
- Chinuri 90% / Goruli Mtsvane 10% Qvevri 2025
- Manavi Wines
- Rkatsiteli Euro 20% in Oak 2022
- Saperavi Euro No Oak 2024 – Personal top pick
- Demi’s Wines
- Chinuri qvevri 2018
- Tavkveri Euro 2018 – Personal Top Pick
- Saperavi Qvevri 2017 – Personal Top Pick
- Domaine Christian Binner (Alsace) – Riesling Grand Cru 2020
- Nagutnebi – Tsolikouri Pet Nat 2024
- Kabaj (Slovenia)
- Rebula 2021 (1 month skin contact, 2 Years Oak)
- Pino Grigio, 2021 (Two months skin contact, two years oak)
- Malvalsia / Sauvignon Viet / Pinot Blanc / Rebula
- Vellino
- Rkatsiteli Pet Nat 2024
- Mtsvane Pet Nat 2024
- Naperebi – Rkatsiteli Qvevri 2023
- Bagdati Estate
- Tsitska Tsolikouri Dzelshavi Euro 2024
- Dzelshavi Krakhuna Tsitska Tsolikouri Otskhanuri Sapere 2021
- Mshvenieradze – Tsitska Tsolikouri qvevri (6 month oak)
- Kolagis
- Rkaperavi Christmas Edition semi-dry 2024 (this is a blend of Rkatsiteli and Saperavi.)
- Rkatsiteli Qvevri 2022
- Makharabeli – Rkatsiteli Mtsvane Euro 2024
- Rero
- Tsitska Pet Nat 2025
- Otskhanuri Sapere Pet Nat 2025
- Otskhanuri Sapere qvevri (12 month oak)
- Iora – Saperavi Rkatsiteli Sparkling (Traditional Method 6 Month Lees) 2022
50 wines, from 26 wineries that made it into the higher category!
Thanks to The Amazing Winemakers!
Thanks again 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 natural wines scene one of the most exciting and diverse in the world!
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