Adjara

The south-eastern Black Sea coast and the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus: a narrow coastal strip around Batumi and the mountain gorges of Keda, Shuakhevi and Khulo. This is the wettest climate in the country; on the coast vineyards sit almost at sea level, while in the mountain villages they climb past a thousand metres. The same maglari training is used as in Guria, and for the same reason: a vine aired out on a supporting tree suffers less disease.

The working varieties are Tsolikouri and Chkhaveri, but the interesting part is what is being brought back: Brola, Khopaturi, Klarjuli, Mekrenchkhi, Burdzghala, Kviristava, Jineshi, Batomura and Satsuri. Keda is regarded as the historical centre of local viticulture. Adjarian native varieties have returned to the bottle in recent years, but the volumes are tiny — this is a matter of individual estates, not of ranges.

The region has no appellations of origin. For a buyer that means something simple: Adjarian wine is chosen by estate and grape rather than by zone, and it is almost always a small batch.