Ancient Armenian Roots of Winemaking

Armenia is an ancient land one of the world's oldest civilizations and since ancient days Armenia was famous for th wine making.

Talking about the history of wine-making it should be said that Forefather Noah was the first winemaker according to the Biblical legend. The grape was planted in the slope of Mount Ararat.

Armenians are noted as one of the first nations making wine and in accordance with scientifically proved data it has 6000 year history. 

In 401 BC, when the Greek armies were passes on the Armenia, called that time Nairi, in houses they found wine, kept in deep dugouts called as "karas".

In June of 2010 National Geographic Society announced that near the village of Areni, in the same cave where  was found the world's oldest shoe dating back 5,500 years group of Armenian, U.S. and Irish archaeologists found the world oldest winery.

"For the first time, we have a complete archaeological picture of wine production dating back 6,100 years," said Gregory Areshian, co-director of the excavation and assistant director of the University of California Los Angeles's Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.

They found a rudimentary wine press and a clay vat surrounded by grape seeds, grape vines and even a cup and drinking bowl. The seeds belonged to a domesticated grape variety, known as Vitis vinifera vinifera, that is still used to make red wine today, the team reported.  Also they suppose thet wine was likely used for ceremonial purposes since the press and wine jugs were found near grave sites,

It should be mentioned that from ancient times till now Armenian wine makers keep the traditions of wine making. Today in Armenia there are about 40 companies which produce more than 100 types of wine.

Come to Armenia to test the best wine sorts made by ancient Armenian traditions!!!

6 Interesting facts about Armenia

1. According to legend the Armenians are the descendents of Haik, a powefull person who didn’t want to live in Babelon under the brutal rule of the King Bel. He took his sons, grandsons, all his big family and moved from Mesopotamia to the north, to Highlands around the Mountain Ararat. But Bel decided to revenge and capture the fugitive family and came with his army to conquer Haik. The battle took place in Ararat Valley and Haik’s family beat the Bels army. It was about xx century B.C.

Since then they lived in freedom and they gave birth to a whole nation – Armenians (Armenian call themselves Hai by the name of their ancestor Haik).


2. The present Capital of Armenia Yerevan was founded in 782 B.C. The name of the initial castle was Erebouni. It is even older than the Eternal City – Rome. There were numerous nice churches and monasteries in Yerevan. Unfortunately in 30s the Bolsheviks ruined almost all of them. Church Zoravor is one of the few survivors. One of nicest Mosques in the Southern Caucasus is the


Blue Mosque in downtown Yerevan. This is a memory from periods of Persian rule in Eastern Armenia.

3. In 2001 Armenia celebrated its 1700th Anniversary of Christianity. In 301 Armenia became the first nation in the world that officially adopted Christianity as the religion of the State.   To commemorate this extremely important event of its history the people of Armenia   constructed an impressive cathedral named after Gregory the Enlightener, the person who convinced the King Trdat to turn Armenian into Christianity and later became the first Catholicos and Supreme Patriarch of the of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

4. One of the wonders in Armenia is Matenadaran. The word means a depository of ancient manuscripts. Here about 17000 manuscripts are kept under special conditions. This is one of the
biggest collections of the manuscripts in the world.  The most unique items are displayed in the Matenadaran Museum.

5. The museum complex is located at the Republic Square which is the center of Yerevan.  The Museum of History introduces absolutely fascinating archeological findings which is the material proof of the ancient history of Armenia. The Tower of the complex is the National Art Gallery. The exclusively rich collections of paintings are made by the famous French, Dutch, Italian, German, Russian and Armenian artists.

6. Sport Concert Complex is a modern building with quite an creative architectural solutions. It has two main halls and there is a rotating tribune between these two halls. Depending on       necessity it can be used either for enlargement of the Sport Hall or the Concert Hall.