8-Day Art & Wine Tour in Georgia
8-Day Art & Wine Tour in Georgia
Art & Wine Tour is a curated cultural expedition designed by Gremeli Art Gallery, tracing Georgian art as a single continuous line: medieval fresco, contemporary painting, winemaking, craft. Each day builds on the one before it. A fresco in Kakheti shapes how the group reads the paintings that follow. A wine tasting opens into a conversation about supra as an artistic subject. A meeting with a working artist shows where that tradition stands today.
The program is led by art curator Vladimir Sheshak, whose ten-plus exhibition projects include work realized at the Museum of Modern Art Tbilisi. Groups are limited to 8-18 people, small enough to keep the atmosphere of a studio. Participants paint en plein air, enter studios closed to casual visitors, and speak with artists directly — a format suited to art schools, galleries, residencies, and cultural communities with a genuine interest in art.
Gremeli Art Gallery has worked with contemporary Georgian artists for years before this program existed, not because of it. That gives access a tour operator doesn't have: studios closed to casual visitors, curatorial relationships with museums and galleries, personal acquaintance with the artists shaping the country's scene today. That is why the itinerary can include meetings and spaces absent from ordinary cultural tours, and why the closing exhibition at the gallery is a natural continuation of work we carry on year-round, not something assembled for the occasion.
In Georgia, history and the present do not sit apart; one continues into the other without a break. A monastery stands beside a vineyard still worked the way it was eight centuries ago, and across the road, an artist is at work in a studio today. We route the program along that continuity, not along a list of photogenic stops. Kakheti, Tbilisi and the Georgian Military Highway are chosen not as scenic points but as stages of a single cultural line, from fresco painting through craft and winemaking to what Georgian artists are making right now.
Wine in Georgia doesn't accompany the table, it shapes it: qvevri, supra, toast-speeches form a visual and oral culture in their own right, alongside painting. The program moves through several winemaking traditions, from family qvevri cellars to biodynamic estates, and includes three meals a day built around each region's cuisine. For participants with vegetarian or other dietary requirements, we prepare a separate menu without compromising quality or presentation. The culinary side isn't an addition to the cultural program. It's one of its languages.
A private transfer meets the group at the airport and takes them straight to a boutique hotel in the heart of Tbilisi. In the evening, the curator holds the opening briefing, walking guests through the route ahead and introducing its central thread: a journey through centuries of Georgian painting, from early frescoes to today's studios. The day closes with a welcome dinner of Georgian cuisine and a first wine tasting, setting the tone for the days that follow.
The day is spent at Gremeli Art Gallery, where the curator introduces the space and the logic behind the tour's exhibition program. The centerpiece of the day is a wine masterclass, where guests are introduced to classic and qvevri winemaking philosophy. During the tasting, the curator traces supra, the Georgian feast, as a subject that has shaped Georgian painting and fresco for centuries. When participants bring finished work of their own, the evening can extend into a formal opening of their exhibition, attended by local collectors, critics and artists.
The morning takes the group to Kakheti, the cradle of Georgian winemaking, for a tasting of the rare local Manavis Mtsvane in the village of Manavi. The afternoon is spent in Sighnaghi, the 18th-century "city of love," where artists paint en plein air along the historic town walls overlooking the Alazani Valley and the Caucasus range. The group stays overnight among Kakheti's vineyards, and the day ends with a hands-on dinner masterclass in Shashlik (Barbeque) and Ajapsandali (Salad).
The day opens with a tour of the 7.7-km Kvareli wine tunnel, followed by a hands-on churchkhela masterclass. In a ceramics workshop, participants shape their own mini qvevri or wine bowls, with the firing handled by a visiting craftsman. The group explores the frescoes of Nekresi monastery and the 16th-century Gremi fortress, visits the Tsinandali estate with its English-style gardens and historic wine cellar, and closes the day with a dinner tasting of experimental and biodynamic wines at Shumi winery.
The morning brings a tour of Telavi, including the palace-museum of King Erekle II and Shuamta monastery, tucked away in dense forest. The route crosses Gombori Pass, where the group takes a short hike and flies kites against a backdrop of hills and misty mountain ridges, followed by a picnic at the top. In the afternoon, the group travels along the Georgian Military Highway into the heart of the Greater Caucasus, staying overnight in Stepantsminda.
The morning opens with a landmark plein air session overlooking the 14th-century Gergeti Trinity Church and the snow-capped peak of Mount Kazbek. After a hearty lunch of handmade mountain khinkali in Kazbegi, the group descends toward Tbilisi with a stop in Mtskheta, Georgia's ancient capital, visiting Jvari Monastery and Svetitskhoveli Cathedral — UNESCO World Heritage sites home to the Robe of Christ and centuries-old frescoes. The day closes with a traditional dinner tasting in Tbilisi.
A walking tour leads the group through Old Tbilisi: carved wooden balconies, the sulfur bath district and hidden courtyards, with an outdoor lunch and visits to 2–3 galleries and studios of contemporary Georgian artists. In the evening, the group returns to Gremeli Art Gallery for the finissage, a retrospective show where the artists' own work meets the paintings and ceramics made over the course of the tour. The evening continues with a farewell dinner and a fireside gathering, with photos and video from the journey.
After checking out of the hotel, artworks and ceramic pieces are carefully packed for travel. A private transfer takes the group to Tbilisi International Airport for departure.
Dates and parts of the itinerary can be adapted to your group: duration, activities and regions are open to adjustment. On request, we'll send a PDF with the full itinerary in its classic form, so you can see exactly what we work from when building the program for you.
We handle the design, logistics and on-the-ground delivery; you bring the group. Let's discuss dates, format and terms for your organization — reach us on WhatsApp.
CONTACT US
Tel: +995 579948895
website: www.gremeli.ge
Email: gremeliartgallery@gmail.com
Address: 112, Mikheil Tsinamdzghvrishvili street, Tbilisi , Georgia