Kvevri or qvevri ( ka, ქვევრი ) - also known as ch'uri ( ka, ჭური ) in Western Georgia - are large
earthenware
Earthenware is glazed or unglazed Vitrification#Ceramics, nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids ...
vessels used for the fermentation, storage and aging of traditional
Georgian wine
Georgia (country), Georgia is one of the oldest List of wine-producing countries, wine-producing countries in the world. The fertile valleys and protective slopes of the South Caucasus were home to grapevine cultivation and neolithic wine product ...
. Resembling large, egg-shaped
amphorae
An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...
without handles, they are either buried below ground or set into the floors of large wine cellars. Kvevris vary in size: volumes range from 20 litres to around 10,000; 800 is typical.
History
Archaeological excavations in the southern Georgian region of
Kvemo Kartli
Kvemo Kartli ( ka, ქვემო ქართლი ) or "Lower Kartli", is a historic province and current administrative region (mkhare) in southeastern Georgia. The city of Rustavi is the regional capital.
Location
Kvemo Kartli is a region ...
(notably at Dangreuli Gora, Gadachrili Gora and in the village of Imiri) uncovered evidence of grape pips and kvevris dating back to the 6th millennium B.C.
The villages of Atsana in
Guria
Guria ( ka, გურია) is a region (''mkhare'') in Georgia (country), Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 104,338 (2023), with Ozurgeti as the regional cap ...
; Makatubani, Shrosha, Tq'emlovana and Chkhiroula in
Imereti
Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი, ) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 mun ...
; and Vardisubani in
Kakheti
Kakheti (; ) is a region of Georgia. Telavi is its administrative center. The region comprises eight administrative districts: Telavi, Gurjaani, Qvareli, Sagarejo, Dedoplistsqaro, Signagi, Lagodekhi and Akhmeta.
Kakhetians speak the ...
are traditional kvevri-making areas. Artisanal families have passed down the knowledge of this ancient handicraft through the generations. The clay used to manufacture a kvevri must be carefully chosen, as its characteristics will influence the wine's mineral content.

The process of making wine in kvevri involves pressing the grapes and then pouring the juice, grape skins, stalks and pips into the kvevri, which is then sealed. The juice is then left to ferment into wine for at least five to six months before being decanted and bottled. The
pomace
Pomace ( ), or marc (; from French ''marc'' ), is the solid remains of grapes, olives, or other fruit after pressing (wine), pressing for juice or Vegetable oil, oil. It contains the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems of the fruit.
Grape pomace has ...
(mash of
pips,
skins and
stalks) which remains is called chacha in Georgian. It is distilled into brandy which is also called
''chacha''. The empty kvevri is then washed, sterilized with lime and re-coated with beeswax, ready to be filled again.
Traditional Georgian wines do not represent a uniform style. A common feature is that their vinification is carried in kvevri completely buried in the ground, so that even the outlet neck of it remains below ground level. The most unusual and archaic, out of the traditional Georgian wines are white Kakhetian wine (also known as orange or amber wine), macerated for several months with the skins, seeds and stems of grapes in buried kvevri. “Kakhetian method" is an extreme current of Georgian wine making tradition, while the moderate faction represents the so-called "Imeretian method". From "Kakhetian method, it differs in amount and quality of the chacha (pomace) used. The Imeretian method uses only part of the chacha, roughly one-tenth, and stems are not used at all. The rest of the production process proceeds in basically the same way. The result is a wine much closer to European standards, not as tannic as the traditional Kakhetian wine, although in this case a long maturation in kvevri gives them the undisputed Georgian stigma. Intermediate place between the Kakhetian style and Imeretian style represents the traditional white wine from province Kartli (Central Georgia), where the one third of chacha with stems is added to kvevri.
In the past, kvevri were also used for storing brandy, grain, butter, cheese and a variety of other perishable foodstuffs, although in Georgia they have always been primarily used for wine-making. Large ceramic storage vessels such as these are made in many countries, but only Georgia, Spain (''vino de tinaja'', ''vino de pitarra'') and Portugal (''vinho de talha'') use them for wine-making.

Wine-makers who use kvevri claim that their wine is stable by nature, rich in tannins, and that it does not require chemical preservatives to ensure long life and superior taste. The tannins found in kvevri wine limit protein content and prevent
turbidity
Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of both water clarity and wa ...
.
Since the Russian market for Georgian wine has dwindled to a trickle, Georgia has revived this ancient method of wine-making and is exciting interest around the world. Various commercial wineries in Georgia export kvevri wines abroad, and some wine-makers in Europe and America have taken to making their wine in kvevris.
Kvevri and the tradition of wine-making in kvevri was inscribed on the
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Georgia registry in 2011. In 2013,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
added the traditional Georgian method of making wine in kvevris as qvevri wine to its list of worlds
intangible cultural heritage
An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. In ...
.
Spelling
Both ''kvevri'' and ''qvevri'' are used in sources of this article. The confusion is caused by difficulties of the
Romanization of Georgian
Romanization of Georgian is the process of transliterating the Georgian language from the Georgian script into the Latin script.
Georgian national system of romanization
This system, adopted in February 2002 by the State Department of Geodesy a ...
. The
Georgian language
Georgian (, ) is the most widely spoken Kartvelian language, Kartvelian language family. It is the official language of Georgia (country), Georgia and the native or primary language of 88% of its population. It also serves as the literary langu ...
has two k sounds: ქ (similar to English) and კ . The official
transliteration
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → and → the digraph , Cyrillic → , Armenian → or L ...
systems would spell the word as ''kvevri'' (National System) or ''k'vevri'' (ISO 9984). ''Qvevri'' is a product of an unofficial transliteration system mostly used online.
QWERTY-derived Georgian keyboard maps letter ქ to and კ to . Therefore, in Georgian you must type to get ''ქვევრი''.
References
Further reading
* Barisashvili, Giorgi (2011). ''Making Wine in Kvevri: A Unique Georgian Tradition''. Tbilisi: Association ELKANA. ISBN 9789941037016
OCLC 1040583941
External links
A history of Georgian wine-making in kvevrisAn illustrated handbook explaining in detail how kvevris and kvevri wine are madeThe Real Wine Fair on "All you needed to know about qvevri but were afraid to ask"Documentary film about kvevris production.
{{Wines
Food storage containers
Pottery shapes
Ancient pottery
Wine packaging and storage
Georgian words and phrases
Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity
Georgian products with protected designation of origin
Georgian wine