Voskevaz Winery is the oldest winery in Armenia. Founded in 1932 during the Soviet era, privatized in 2004 and fully modernized since. Under the guidance of a young Russian winemaker who learned the craft in Spain, Voskevaz makes modern wines from indigenous Armenian grape varieties. Like neighboring Georgia, Voskevaz has recently started making 'orange wines' again, made in 'karas', the Armenian word for the large earthenware jars buried in the winery's cellar.
During the communist era, Voskevaz, named after the village of the same name just northwest of the capital Yerevan, made mainly fortified wines and Sherry. Real wine was reserved for neighboring Georgia. In 2004 the company was privatized. Armenian investor David Hovhannisyan bought it, with very different plans: to start making quality wines. He equipped the cellar with new Italian equipment and brought in an Italian winemaker.
Voskevaz makes wine only from indigenous Armenian grape varieties such as Areni Noir, Kangun and Muscat Vardabuyr. The grapes are bought from a small group of grape growers in the surrounding area. The harvest is driven to Voskevaz at night to preserve the quality of the grapes (if it's too warm, the grapes could start fermenting before they arrive). In total, Voskevaz uses about 60 hectares of vineyards, all at around a kilometer above sea level, with warm days and cold nights.
In 2014 a new winemaker arrived: the young Russian Alexey Sapsay. He studied oenology in Moscow but quickly realized this wasn't the ideal place to make wine. When he heard about a two-year master's program in oenology in Spain, France and Italy, he didn't hesitate for a moment and left for the West. He did most of his training at the renowned wine business Mas Martinet in Priorat, Spain.
After his studies he moved to Armenia to become the winemaker at Voskevaz Winery. There he rediscovered the karas (qvevri in Georgian): large earthenware amphorae in which, like the Georgians, the Armenians have traditionally made wine. The karas is buried in the winery's cellar. The grapes go in with pips and skins to ferment. During the communist era, the karas had become obsolete, since quantity, not quality, was demanded. Alexey found a few ancient karas at the winery and with small farmers in the area. He had them cleaned and has been making wine in them since 2015. A small quantity, admittedly, but the expectation is that Voskevaz's karas wine production will increase considerably in the coming years. We currently have five wines from Voskevaz Winery in our range. You can view all our wines from Voskevaz Winery here.
If you want to know more about this winery, here you will find the link to the website of Voskevaz Winery.
Orange wine (27) 
Fresh (89) 
Light (36) 
Rosé (14) 
Aromatic (22) 
Medium (98) 
Sparkling (27) 
Ripe (71) 
Full-bodied (99) 
