Armenia: They Were Making Wine 6,000 Years Ago. Why Aren't You Drinking It?

In 2007, archaeologists crawled into a cave near the village of Areni in southern Armenia and found a grape press, a fermentation vat, and storage jars — a complete winery, dated to roughly 4100 BC. It's the oldest known winery on the planet, more than a thousand years older than any other ever found. The grape seeds inside were Vitis vinifera, the same species we still drink today. People were making wine here before the wheel was common.

It holds a specific title, and it's worth getting right. Georgia's Neolithic pottery carries older chemical traces of grape wine, and Iran's Hajji Firuz Tepe has the longest-standing earlier claim. Areni-1 is the oldest known winery: the oldest place we can see where the work was actually done.

So why does Armenia get zero shelf space at your local wine shop? No good reason — which is exactly why it belongs here.

The grape to know: Areni

Armenia's signature red is Areni, named for that same village, grown high in the Armenian Highlands. It's often compared to Pinot Noir for its bright red fruit and elegance, but it's tougher and more savory, shaped by extreme mountain altitude. It's the grape to seek out when you want to taste what 6,000 years of practice tastes like.

My way in

My own introduction was a little different — a semi-sweet red from the Aragatsotn region, and it completely won me over:

Tasting Review

Armenia Wine Semisweet Red

Indigenous Armenian blend · Aragatsotn, Armenia · 2018

Revelation93 / 100★★★★★★★★★★

Crisp, and it actually improves days after opening. A whole basket of red fruit — cherry, pomegranate, raspberry, strawberry. Joyful, and a steal.

$

If you like your reds dry, go straight for an Areni. If you're open to a little fruit-driven sweetness (and you should be — see my case for semi-sweet reds), a bottle like this is the friendliest possible introduction to Armenian wine, from the country that holds the oldest winery ever excavated.

Why it matters

Armenia is the purest expression of the Wine Underdogs idea: a wine country with a 6,000-year résumé, indigenous grapes you've never heard of, and prices that haven't caught up to the quality because the gatekeepers aren't looking. Get there before they do.

Not every bottle is a steal, though. The ambitious estates that ship to the US price their wines well above the bargains, and I've written about why in the two grapes Armenia is leading with.

— Chris Berry