Georgia

Georgia has been making wine for eight thousand years in clay vessels buried in the earth, and it approaches most things with a similar combination of antiquity and conviction. The Caucasus here are at their most dramatic - Kazbegi's church on its ridge above the clouds is one of the iconic images of the region, and the road to it is the kind of drive that produces silence in the car. Tbilisi is one of the great underrated cities: a tangle of balconied streets above the Mtkvari River, thermal baths, a natural wine bar on every corner, and a hospitality tradition that treats feeding guests as a moral obligation.

Our guide is being written from the ground up, with the time this place deserves.

We are still gathering the notes that make a guide worth keeping: Tbilisi's old town guesthouses, Kakheti wine routes, Svaneti tower village treks and the supra table traditions that require both an empty stomach and a willingness to stay longer than planned.