01 Wine Maps _ History _ Armenia 🍇Online Wine Courses ➡️ with Quiz

Hi, I'm Daryl Joseph and today I'm going to talk to you about the cradle of wine or one of the cradles of wine which is Armenia. It is considered the birthplace or let's say one of the birthplaces of wine as we know it today. Okay, the history goes back at least six to even eight thousand years. Around 15 years ago, the oldest winery in the world, the oldest known working winery, was discovered in Bayozor, a region of Armenia. This is a wine region and above the village of Aranyi and so the cave is called Aranyi and this goes back about 6,100 years. Okay, there are many many all kinds of vessels and old remnants of a little press and all kinds of all kinds of remnants of a winery were discovered and the thing is it was probably used for sacrificial purposes. Okay, it was not like a winery for the people living in the village down below. It was for likely sacrificial reasons because traces of human blood were found. Now, also going back from that time, 6,100 years, this is and was and it still is an exciting discovery and they're still uncovering more of this winery, of the ruins of this winery up in the cave. I was lucky enough to visit it a few years ago and it is quite extensive and there is still much more to be uncovered. So, the history here goes back very very far. In fact, it is known that the Assyrians, the ancient Assyrians, really appreciated wine that was coming from Armenia and even wine was traded with the ancient Babylonians. So, we're talking a very very long extensive history of wine. Now, it would be fair to say that neighboring countries of Georgia, Turkey and Iran, which surround Armenia and so does Azerbaijan, by the way, but those countries I mentioned, Georgia, Turkey, Iran, they also have quite an extensive history and could be credited with being a cradle of wine or cradles of wine as well. Okay, this fascinating country of Armenia is located just below Georgia. It is a trans-Caucasian country, Armenia, and to the north of Armenia is Georgia and bordering Georgia or separating Georgia from Russia are the Caucasus Mountains. Okay, the Caucasus Mountains, this huge chain, has a big big influence on the countries of Georgia and Armenia, Azerbaijan. Armenia is a fascinating place and like Georgia and Azerbaijan, it was also once part of the Soviet Union. When Armenia became part of the Soviet Union, okay, the vineyards, everything, you know, like in all Soviet areas where there was wine, became used for mass production purposes. Some were used for brandy, some were used for sparkling wine, some were used for dry wines. Now, in Armenia, today, it is a very strong brandy producing country and only 10% of its wine production is dedicated to wine or dry wine as we know it. Okay, but it is very important because it has a fascinating array of indigenous grape varieties and some very interesting new wineries. Now, the period, the Soviet period, was very important and I want to mention this because what you have today is a small, let's say, reflection of what Armenia once was in terms of a vineyard, hectare, rich country. Okay, it is now much smaller than it ever was and one of the reasons is during the period under Mikhail Gorbachev, who was the Soviet leader back in the 1980s, up until, well, until the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Gorbachev introduced a policy of anti-alcoholism, anti-alcohol, so many vineyards throughout the Soviet Union were either abandoned or destroyed, rubbed up, and Armenia was hit quite strongly with this. Georgia was also, but to a lesser extent, but Armenia definitely had quite a time and what was left is, as I said, now producing a lot of brandy. Okay, it was a brandy-producing country and it is very much so today, but there still were a number of vineyards left for dry wine. Now, today it's only a population of 3 million, Armenia, and it is nevertheless a wonderful, wonderful special land with only 16,000 hectares of vineyards, but a few very, very distinctive regions and one of them is called Ararat. Of course, you might be familiar with the famous Mount Ararat in Turkey today, but it once was Armenian and there is a region called Ararat that's about 4,600 hectares and this is fascinating and you have Armavir, you have Aragatsatyn, and Vajodzor, and Tavush. Now, there's also Artsakh, which is part of the Nagorno-Karabakh, which is the disputed territory with Azerbaijan. Now, I mentioned Vajodzor again and I will emphasize this region because it has the beautiful Arani grape variety. Okay, this is where the cave I told you about, the 6,100 year old cave, is located above the village of Arani and the grape is Arani Noir. Okay, and this I'll tell you about as we go on.