Producer profile: Zorah wines in Armenia with founder Zorik Gharibian

Looking Into Wine

At the foothills of Biblical Mount Ararat, at altitudes between 1400 and 1600 meters above sea level and just a stone through from the world’s oldest winemaking facility Areni 1 cave.
The vineyards of ZORAH can be found in the rural village of Rind in the heart of Vayots Dzor, Armenia’s classic winemaking region.
Zorah aims to re-establish the long history of Armenia for wines and to bring the nation to the global market. It's not an easy task but thanks to some very clever choices the success is coming to their way.
Armenia much like other countries has a few hundred varieties that are believed to the of local origin and Yeraz Gharibian, knew that working with those varieties would have been essential to the success of his wines.
With today’s guests Yeraz Gharibian. we talked about why he decided to open his winery in Armenia, what are the difficulties that he encountered along the way.
We spotlighted the wines Yeraz Wines produced at Zorah,
Yeraz (dream in Armenian) is the dream for the revival of ancient wine culture and the rediscovery of forgotten places and lost native grapes. It is the dream for a passionate wine future and the creation of great wines from Armenia which will tell the story of this age-old land and it is the dream to trust in the potential of this incredible terroir with a sense of responsibility for future generations.
High altitude viticulture the grapes for Yeraz come from ultra-centennial semi-abandoned bush vineyards ‘older than time’ at altitudes of 1600 meters (5250 feet) above sea level. Raw and remote, pure and authentic, these vines reflect the difficult history that has defined this land and the spirit of its people; resilient yet with great inner tenacity, they have somehow survived against all odds
Karas the ageing vessel of choice, the local Armenian Amphorae that typically are ¾ buried compared to those found in other countries, Zorik, explains why in the interview.
Also explore the unique region of Vayots Dzor with its high altitude, and the Karas the Armenian Amphorae used for ageing and how he uses them. We also spotlighted, what other regions are producing wines in Armenia.
Some other useful links on the topic
https://www.zorahwines.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_wine
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