Kilometer 7844: on the search for top wine tasting

Armenia would not be its true self without claiming that the first wine was produced on its territory.

Close to the Areni village some caves from thousands of years ago were discovered, whose inhabitants used to ferment grapes. The Areni variety has a unique aroma and cannot adapt to grow in any different corner of the world.

We don’t want to get into the dispute between every single wine producing country, so let’s skip the whole loftiness and focus on what’s really important in life. On wine.

The first sign that you’re getting closer shall be a granny and a stall. On the stall there shall be plastic cans, capacity ranging between one and ten litres. In the plastic cans there shall be wine. Behind the first granny there shall be another granny, a dozen grannies later the village shall properly begin.

In one of the dozen wine factories (which is quite impressive, considering the population of 1800) we were treated with eight more and less vintage Areni wines, seven fruit wines and five distillates. My oh-how-very-refined pallet was surprised to taste in some of them the same type of cabbage acidity as in Georgian drinks. I was convinced that it was the effect of traditional Georgian wine-making techniques, but here I learn that yeast, or better said – lack thereof, is the responsible factor. It’s all organic, vegan and gluten-free. I gotta admit, it’s not often when I come out a tasting room tipsy… Cost of the whole event: 1,5$. You only live once. And we’ll detox in Iran.