The world is making a lot of good wines. There’s no question about it. This question I get asked to me every time – how would you compare Armenian wines? I cannot compare in any way because the grape varieties are different.

The grapes are great, I understand that, but they are different. Our approach to winemaking is a little different than a classic one I would say. We know that wine is being evaluated based on three components: eyes, nose and texture. However, we believe that there is another character of the wine, and there would be some others that science didn’t research enough. By drinking the first sip, you need to understand from the bud breaking, what type of winds, what type of rains they feel, how that has converted into the wines. 

The energy surrounding the vines and the wine. The wine is absorbing all this information and able to transfer this information to the consumer. So the consumer needs to feel all this character of the wine. And that’s why the energy is so crucial for our estate, vineyards, people that we work with here, the songs that we put on them. It’s physics to me, just simple physics. Vibrations make a difference in the structures, this way or the other way. And I believe it is doing it in a good way. So I think the energy is one of the main things that our Armenian wine has that is a little different than other wines. 

One of the big components of the terroir. The meaning of the terroir definitely is the philosophy of the winemaker besides the soil and sun. Let’s see. Our philosophy, our approach to the viticulture in enology is just to create the right environment for the grapes in the first place. To feel good, to give their best to the winemaker and after that, getting the best possible grapes from the terroir.

Then the job of the winemaker is be as less invasive as he can be. Just try to again create the good place in the cellar for the grapes to transform to the wine and to tell about the terroir. So less invasive. That’s the number one rule for us. To let the grapes talk themselves. 

When we planted our first vineyard we didn’t add any poison to the soil, to the grass and the vines, anyhow. I have learned that there is this organic program. I said, “Why not do it?” Because we are doing it the same way, you know. Anyway, so we did apply for organic certification and now our estate vineyards are certified organic. Besides that, we are also using these bio-natural approaches, which are, you know, sound, vibration and other good approaches. Actually, in Armenia it is easier and cheaper to do organic than otherwise because nature is here and nature is helping us actually.

The other thing we did, we did a lot of research in the manuscript. We did find a couple of recipes of how to, you know, fight the diseases. And we have a lot less disease or one or two diseases for the grapes, a fungus type of disease. And we use all natural components like eggshells.