Amber, qvevri
Khikhvi made in qvevri at Vardisubani, from a producer that has built its short list around the grape and bottles it both as a fresh white and as an amber wine.
Tip: Winiveria bottles Khikhvi both fresh and in qvevri, which makes it a short lesson in what the vessel does to one Kakhetian white.
Dry white
The dry white in Chelti's range, carrying the Tsinandali name. The estate sits at Shilda on the lower southwestern slopes of the Caucasus and keeps its vineyards beside the cellar.
Tip: Chelti lists it as a dry white alongside a Kisi and a Rkatsiteli Qvevri, so ask to taste the three together and the house style becomes obvious.
Amber, qvevri
Chelti's amber Rkatsiteli, listed by the estate as dry and made in qvevri. It sits in the range next to a Kisi Qvevri and two qvevri Saperavi bottlings.
Tip: Taste it beside the estate's Kisi Qvevri: same vessel, same cellar, two very different amber wines from two Kakhetian whites.
Dry red
The straightforward dry Saperavi in the Khareba range, bottled at Kvareli. The tunnel cellar that stores it runs 7.7 km into the rock and sits at 12 to 16 degrees all year.
Tip: Buy it at the cave shop after the tunnel walk; the tasting there can run to 50 wines, so taste before you decide what to carry home.
Amber, qvevri
Khareba's dry qvevri Kisi, one of a run of qvevri bottlings on the list that also takes in Rkatsiteli, Mtsvane, Khikhvi and Saperavi.
Tip: The cave shop carries the qvevri bottlings alongside the classical range, so you can line the two methods up before deciding what to buy.
Dry red
The Mukuzani in Teliani Valley's range, made at the winery on the Tbilisi highway outside Telavi. Mukuzani is one of the appellations on the National Wine Agency register.
Tip: Teliani Valley also bottles under Glekhuri and Teluri, so check which label you are being poured before you compare prices.