Grape Guide
Chinuri
WhiteChinuri is a white grape native to Kartli in central Georgia, prized for its high acidity. It forms the backbone of the sparkling wines labelled Atenuri, an appellation lying south of Gori. The variety also yields crisp still whites and amber qvevri wines, which show herbal, quince and saline notes along with moderate tannin.
Key characteristics
- Native to Kartli, central Georgia; parentage not established
- Vigorous and productive, with late budding and late ripening
- Susceptible to powdery mildew, though it withstands downy mildew
- Moderate sugar accumulation with high acidity, suited to sparkling base wine
- Planted on roughly 860 ha in 2004
Typical flavors
Major regions
Kartli (Mukhrani, Ateni, Kaspi) · Atenuri PDO · Kakheti · Imereti
Also known as
Chinabuli · Kaspura · Kaspuri Tetri (Kartli) · Okroula · Tchinouri
Chinuri is one of the main white varieties of Georgia's Kartli region, valued above all for its acidity. Must typically reaches only moderate sugar levels while keeping a firm acid backbone, which makes the grape a natural base for sparkling wine and gives still versions a taut, citrus-and-orchard profile. The Atenuri appellation, in the Trialeti foothills south of Gori, is built around it, usually alongside Goruli Mtsvane.
Style varies with the cellar. Dry, cool-fermented wines emphasise green apple, pear, lime zest and white blossom, with a faint almond note on the finish. Fermented on skins in buried clay qvevri, the same fruit turns amber and picks up sage, chamomile, quince and peach preserve, with a salty edge and moderate grip. It rarely reaches the depth of colour or tannin of Kakhetian amber whites, and tends to read as lighter and more savoury.
Chinuri is regarded as indigenous to Kartli, the central-southern Georgian province around Gori, Kaspi and Mukhrani, and no wild or foreign ancestry has been demonstrated. Its parentage remains undetermined. The usual explanation of the name is that it comes from the Georgian chinebuli, meaning excellent, although an older reading links it to a word for a greenish tint, and the etymology is not settled.
Historically it was widely planted in central Kartli, especially around Gori and Kaspi, where it supplied the dry table whites sold as Atenuri. Plantings fell back with the spread of phylloxera and fungal disease in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A survey of 1953 recorded about 725 ha nationally, and the vine later regained ground: roughly 860 ha were reported in 2004, and the figures, from different sources and years, should be treated as approximate.
Sparkling wine gave the variety a second role. Production of Georgian sparkling wine began in Kartli in the late nineteenth century, and Chinuri's acidity suited it to bottle-fermented and tank-method wines. Genetic surveys of Georgian vine collections have found Chinuri among the most frequently recurring genotypes, which points to long propagation from cuttings. Beyond Kartli it is grown in smaller amounts in Kakheti and Imereti.
Chinuri is a vigorous, productive vine that buds late and ripens late, a combination that spares it from most spring frosts but means harvest comes well into autumn in Kartli. Because sugars build slowly and acidity stays high, growers can pick early for sparkling base or wait for fuller phenolic ripeness for still and qvevri wines. The vine withstands downy mildew, yet powdery mildew is a real threat, so canopy management and sulphur programmes matter in wetter seasons. The Atenuri vineyards sit at roughly 620 to 750 m on the north-eastern slopes of the Trialeti Ridge, on sandy and white clay soils, in river plains and foothills where altitude moderates summer heat and preserves acidity. High vigour calls for yield control if concentrated still wine is the goal.
Sparkling wine is the variety's signature. Atenuri is Georgia's sparkling appellation, and both the traditional bottle-fermentation method and the tank (Charmat) method are permitted; Chinuri is usually the leading grape, supported by Goruli Mtsvane and, potentially, Aligoté. Bagrationi, the large Tbilisi-based sparkling producer, includes Chinuri alongside Mtsvane and Tsitska in its Classic Brut, a fresh, appley wine.
Still dry whites are made in stainless steel or large neutral vessels and show lean citrus and orchard fruit with high acidity. A growing group of small growers works the variety in qvevri on full skins, with spontaneous fermentation and months of maturation sealed underground. Iago Bitarishvili (Iago's Wine) has made a skin-contact Chinuri since 2008, and Pheasant's Tears also bottles one. These wines range from pale gold to light amber, with chamomile, sage, quince and saline notes and medium tannin.
Where it grows
Kartli (Mukhrani, Ateni, Kaspi)
The historic heartland, with the greatest concentration of plantings and the traditional source of both dry whites and sparkling base wine.
Atenuri PDO
Sparkling-only appellation about 10 km south of Gori, on Trialeti foothills at 620 to 750 m, with sandy and white clay soils; Chinuri and Goruli Mtsvane are the principal varieties and Aligoté may also be blended.
Kakheti
Planted in small amounts, mostly by artisan producers making skin-contact qvevri wine, and typically paler and less tannic than the region's Rkatsiteli amber wines.
Imereti
Minor plantings in western Georgia, where it is used for still whites and in sparkling blends.