Justin Keay speaks to Armenian star, Zorik Gharibian, who grew up in Italy and turned his back on a successful career in fashion in order to make wine in his ancestral homeland. As the founder and winemaker of Zorah Wines, Gharibian has played a pivotal role in helping shape the country’s modern wine industry, most recently having just revived a range of once-extinct native varieties.
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This mountainous former Soviet republic in the south Caucasus has long traditions of Christianity and hospitality, and an ancient wine culture that dates back Millenia. It also has outstanding territorial issues and has recently endured conflict and has a large neighbour with whom it has a history of bad relations. The country is modernising but also grappling with corruption, bureaucracy and cronyism. Its shrinking population is mitigated to some degree by returning former emigres, who are active in a revitalising a wine industry where traditions and indigenous grape varieties are being rediscovered, with winemakers aiming for wines that appeal to a modern palate rather than a typical Russian one.
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Following the success of the inaugural CEE tasting, Justin Keay dives into the multi-faceted diversity of the region, spanning Central Europe, the Balkans and the Caucasus.
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Justin Keay contemplates the potential impact of the coming showcase for Central and Eastern European wines.
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Armenia has a thriving wine industry, as Jacopo Mazzeo discovers, but faces an uphill battle to establish itself on the world stage.
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Importer Hallgarten & Novum Wines has added two new wineries to its portfolio from Armenia and Georgia, the first time it has listed wines from those countries.
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