By Nikola Marinko · Water and wastewater projects in Georgia, 2017-2021 · Updated October 2026 · 8 min read

Sighnaghi, the hilltop town called the balcony of Kakheti, was my escape from the sites while I was in Georgia from 2017 to 2021 with Ludwig Pfeiffer, delivering ADB-financed water and wastewater infrastructure and finishing as Contractor's Executive Director. Tbilisi was the base, and the sites ran west, from Mestia in the Svan mountains to Ureki, Anaklia and Zugdidi near the Black Sea. Kakheti lay the other way, east of the capital and close enough that a Sunday was enough. After a week of commissioning schedules, a town that does nothing but watch the light move across a valley was exactly the reset I needed.

The story drives the southern road from Tbilisi through vineyards, stone villages and roadside stalls selling churchkhela and homemade wine, up to Sighnaghi on its hilltop above the Alazani Valley. The fortress wall runs for almost 4 km, one of the longest in Georgia, and its towers look across the plain to the snow on the Caucasus. The town is small, cobbled and full of carved balconies, and locals call it the City of Love because weddings happen there almost every day.

One piece of route advice from the page: do not drive back the same way. Carry on to Telavi, the wine capital, and loop back to Tbilisi, so the one day shows you the whole of Kakheti.

STP Zugdidi project · Tbilisi · Borjomi and Bakuriani · Gudauri · Field stories

Sighnaghi, the Balcony of Kakheti - A Sunday in Georgian Wine Country

FIELD STORY