Zorah Wines Vineyard in Armenia

Founded: 2001
Working days: Mon.-Fri.
Opening hours: 10:00-17:00
Specialization: Winemaking
Distance from Yerevan: 108 km / 1 h 54 min.

«High class wine, which is produced for small group» – this is how founding director of the winery “Zorah” Zorik Gharibyan describes his production. He moved to Armenia in 1998 and already in 2001 he begun to explore the culture of wine and wine-producing. Before initiating his own work, Italian-Armenian winemaker sent “Areni” grapes to Italy for several studies and received confirmation, that this grape has native Armenian origins and has nothing to do with other grape varieties, known in the world.

The water and soil of Yeghegnadzoroffers all the necessary conditions for the development of viticulture. He bought a land in this territory with total size of 40 hectares, of which 6 hectares are already give harvest of grapes for the wine. The first success of the production dating back to 2012. His goal is to present to the world the best varieties of grapes and delicious wines, and director is slowly and patiently reaching his aims. The businessman underlines the importance of product quality and plans to annually produce no more than 100/120 bottles that will meet the expectations of true wine lovers. Some of wine will also be sold in a foreign market: Russia, USA, England, Italy, Ireland.

Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine recognized Armenian wine Zorah Karasi Areni Noir as one of the top-10 wines of the world. Bloomberg had chosen this wine among the 4,000 names of wines for its unique taste and tenderness. Though, this review was made not officially . It was made by Clin Makko, who was tasting over 4000 varieties of wines and underlined only 10 he really liked. In this list, for instance, found Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Romanee-Conti of 2009 (it costs from $14,000 to $18,000), or Quinta do Noval Nacional of 1963 (from $4,500 to $6,500). Zorah Karasi, which is produced in Areni, is not expensive compared with mentioned wines. It costs only $45. But look what writes the author about the wine: “I was fascinated by the first wine I tasted in Izmir (Turkey). It was elegant red wine, produced from red Areni grapes and aged in traditional clay amphoras. Gentle flavor of smoke, satin softness, nice shades of mulberry and other fruits make this wine very unique. I also was listening a story of this wine with a great pleasure. This is result of a new winery project near Areni 1 cave. This is where archaeologists discovered the world’s oldest 6100 years old winery.”