Bordering the Black Sea and just north of Guria, Shmegrelo is one of Georgia's lesser known wine regions.
About
There are two main grape varieties in circulation here; white wines are predominantly produced using Tsolikouri. Reds are made using Ojaleshi, a dark coloured variety often cited alongside Saperavi as Georgia's most important red grape. Here is gives light-bodied wines with aromas of raspberry, cherry and redcurrant flavours. More complex versions are dry and offer up spicy notes but the majority of these wines are produced with plenty of residual sugar making them a little on the sweet side. Most of the wine production in the region takes place just to the east of the town of Chkhorotsku, just along the road from the administrative capital Zugdidi.
