Qvevri wine
Georgian wine fermented and matured in buried clay vessels called qvevri, usually with grape skins, pips and sometimes stems, in styles from amber to red that differ by region.
Equipment · Jars, pots and crocks
Qvevri
ქვევრი · kvevri · churi · ჭური
A qvevri (ქვევრი; kvevri), called churi (ჭური) in Imereti, is a large fired-clay Georgian wine vessel traditionally installed upright in the ground for fermentation, maturation and storage.
Form and making
A qvevri is a large, fired-clay wine vessel with a broad rounded, egg-shaped body, a wide mouth and a lower body that narrows. In western Georgia the related vessel is called churi (ჭური). Forms vary by wine region; a qvevri is not simply a generic upright jar or a small storage crock.
The vessel is made by specialist potters. Wines of Georgia describes a hand-built process in which clay is shaped in layers and dried between stages before kiln firing. Some makers line the inside with beeswax, and some winemakers order a lime- or cement-based coating outside. These are documented options rather than features every qvevri shares.
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Buried in the marani
In the Georgian wine tradition, qvevri are installed upright in a marani, the wine cellar, with the mouth at floor level while the large clay body is buried in earth. The visible stone or other lid and rim mark the opening; most of the vessel is hidden below. UNESCO describes the vessel sealed and buried during fermentation. A cutaway is needed to show how the vessel's scale and shape relate to the cellar floor.
Qvevri are used to ferment, mature and store wine. The National Wine Agency reports that buried earth buffers temperature, and gives 13–15 °C for qvevri under its described conditions; this is the agency's account, not a guaranteed temperature for every cellar. The sloping walls let grape solids settle toward the lower part of the vessel while wine remains above them.
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Regional practice
The method is practised across Georgia, but a single “qvevri method” should not erase regional differences. The National Wine Agency contrasts Kakhetian winemaking, where the full amount of grape solids may take part in fermentation, with the Imeretian method, which uses less; it also records churi as the western Georgian name. In Kakheti, qvevri are buried in the cellar; the agency notes a different outdoor storage practice for sealed churi in western Georgia.
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What the archaeological dates show
Chemical evidence from Georgian Neolithic pottery supports grape wine around 6000–5800 BCE. That is evidence for early wine in pottery, not proof that the same qvevri shape or buried cellar installation existed then. The PNAS authors date archaeological evidence for qvevri winemaking itself to the eighth–seventh centuries BCE and note the gap between the Neolithic and Iron Age evidence. The present tradition is living cultural practice, recognized by UNESCO in 2013.
Equipment details
Capacity100–3500 L Wines of Georgia gives a modern range of 100–3,500 litres; these are the source's broad range, not a capacity for every regional form.
PowerNo power The earthenware vessel itself is unpowered; burial in earth is part of the documented installation.
How you get oneBought from a maker Made by Georgian qvevri potters, including family-owned makers in wine regions; typically commissioned or bought from a craftsperson.
CareQvevri are cleaned before a new vintage. Wines of Georgia describes scrubbing and rinsing the inside and notes that some traditional qvevri cleaners enter large vessels; it does not establish one cleaning procedure for every vessel or lining. Some makers use interior beeswax, and some winemakers specify lime- or cement-based exterior coatings.
Made of
- Fired clay — Vessel body
Hand-formed and kiln-fired from local clay in the documented Georgian tradition. - Beeswax — Optional interior lining
Some makers line the inside; it is not universal. - Lime or cement — Optional exterior coating
Some winemakers order an outer coating; it is not universal.
Places
Georgia
Traditional use · Country evidenceQvevri wine-making is practised across Georgia; this country-level row does not claim every regional variant is identical.
Kakheti
Traditional use · Region evidenceThe National Wine Agency describes qvevri buried in cellar floors in Kakheti.
Imereti
Traditional use · Region evidenceThe National Wine Agency describes the Imeretian method and records the local name churi; regional methods differ.
Related
Used for
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Sources
UNESCO Intangible Cultural HeritageTraditional use · Method · Cultural history
Ancient Georgian traditional Qvevri wine-making methodQvevri is egg-shaped earthenware used for making, ageing and storing wine.
The Georgian method includes grape juice, skins, stalks and pips, with the vessel sealed and buried during fermentation.
The living practice is present across Georgia and was inscribed in 2013.
Cited in: Buried in the marani; Regional practice; What the archaeological dates show
National Wine Agency of GeorgiaForm · Regional use · Manufacture · Capacity · Installation
Qvevri WineThe current common form is egg-shaped and qvevri capacities vary widely.
The agency describes Kakhetian and Imeretian method differences and the western Georgian name churi.
Kakhetian qvevri are buried in cellar floors; the agency describes different outdoor storage in western Georgia.
Cited in: Form and making; Buried in the marani; Regional practice
Wines of GeorgiaForm · Materials · Manufacture · Care · Installation · Capacity
Winemaking TraditionModern qvevri are reported in a 100–3,500 litre range.
The page describes hand-building and firing, optional beeswax interior lining, and optional lime or cement exterior coating.
The marani installation leaves the rim at floor level; qvevri are used for fermentation, maturation and storage.
Cited in: Form and making; Buried in the marani
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesArchaeological history
Early Neolithic wine of Georgia in the South CaucasusChemical evidence supports grape wine in Georgian pottery around 6000–5800 BCE.
The authors date archaeological evidence for qvevri winemaking to the eighth–seventh centuries BCE and distinguish it from earlier Neolithic wine evidence.
Cited in: What the archaeological dates show
Wikimedia Commons; digitized by the National Library of GeorgiaHistorical visual reference
Georgian wine jar “kvevri” (Le Caucase illustré N1, 1889)The 1889 lithograph depicts a large Georgian qvevri outside its installed cellar stage, shown lying on its side.