Armenia wine

The Areni-1 cave in Vayots Dzor holds what is currently the oldest known winemaking facility — press, vats and jars — dated to around 4100 BCE, roughly a thousand years older than any comparable find.

The modern industry is much younger. Soviet planning directed Armenian grapes overwhelmingly to brandy, and commercial table-wine production restarted seriously only in the 2000s.

Areni Noir is the principal variety: pale, high in acidity and savoury, closer in weight to Pinot Noir than to anything Mediterranean.

Armenia has the strongest claim of any country to the deepest continuous winemaking record. The Areni-1 cave in Vayots Dzor contains a press, fermentation vats and storage jars dated to around 4100 BCE — roughly a thousand years older than any comparable installation found elsewhere.

It sits within the broader south Caucasus region where the domestication of the grapevine is generally placed, alongside Georgia and eastern Turkey.

The modern industry is far younger than that suggests. Soviet planning assigned brandy to Armenia and wine to Georgia, so the vineyards were given over almost entirely to distilling material, and commercial table-wine production restarted seriously only in the 2000s.

Areni Noir is the principal variety: pale, high in acidity, red-fruited and savoury, grown at 1,200–1,800 metres. It is closer in weight to Pinot Noir or Nebbiolo than to anything Mediterranean, which surprises most people meeting it for the first time.

Voskehat is the leading white. Vineyards are high, dry and continental, and winters are cold enough that vines are sometimes buried for protection.