A Day Trip from Tbilisi to the Ateni Valley
A family winery 1.5 hours from Tbilisi: Uplistsikhe, Gori and Ateni Sioni in one day, ending with a wine tasting and Georgian lunch.
A winery an hour and a half from Tbilisi
Château Ateni is a young family winery in the Ateni Valley, founded in 2010, about ten minutes south of Gori and roughly an hour and a half from Tbilisi by car. That puts it within an easy day's reach of the capital: Gori itself sits about 85 kilometres west of Tbilisi, roughly an hour by road, and the Ateni gorge opens 8 to 12 kilometres south of the town. Three of central Georgia's best-known sights lie close together on the way, so most visitors make a full day of it and end with a tasting at the cellar and a Georgian meal.
What the day can include
- Uplistsikhe cave town
- One of Georgia's oldest settlements, a whole town of halls, dwellings and a pagan temple carved into the rock above the Mtkvari river, a short drive from Gori.
- Gori
- A medieval hilltop fortress with sweeping views, and the Stalin Museum.
- Ateni Sioni
- A 7th-century domed church in the valley itself, with early Georgian inscriptions and medieval frescoes, a short drive from our cellar.
- The Biisi Waterfall
- For walkers: reached by a trail of roughly 2.5 kilometres; trails in the gorge are mostly unmarked and without facilities.
- A tasting at Château Ateni
- About 90 minutes in the vineyard and cellar with our wines, led in Georgian, English or Russian.
Planning the day
Tastings start on the hour from 10:00 to 18:00, so you can see the sights in the morning and come to the cellar in the afternoon, or begin with the wine and explore afterwards.
Tasting and lunch
Choose the degustation of four dry wines and three chachas with cheese, homemade bread, dried fruit and churchkhela (50 GEL per person), or make it a long lunch: the same flight with pork barbecue, Kartlian khachapuri, ajapsandali, salads, cheese, tkemali and churchkhela (100 GEL per person, from five guests), or the premium table with sparkling wine, hot satsivi and a raspberry-jam roll (140 GEL). Children pay half, and a visit is charged at no fewer than three full prices. The wines you taste come from indigenous Kartli grapes such as Chinuri and Goruli Mtsvane, grown in the Ateni micro-zone and aged in oak barrels. Ateni is the home of Atenuri, Georgia's only appellation classified for sparkling wine, so the sparkling Brut and Pet-Nat are the glasses to ask for.
Getting there
By car, the drive from Tbilisi takes about an hour and a half; from Gori it is about ten minutes. Prefer not to drive? We can arrange a transfer; just ask when you book. The estate is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00. Please book the tasting ahead; WhatsApp is the quickest way, and we confirm every booking with you directly.
Or stay the night
If one day feels short, our five wooden cottages stand on the winery grounds, each with air conditioning, a private balcony and an en-suite bathroom, with set menus for breakfast and dinner. Check-in is from 14:00.