The wines he offered started with Stork Kangoun 2023, a dry white wine from Ararat/Ara Region, and two dry white wines from Vayots, Dzor Region, Ariats Voskehat 2024 and ARIATS Voskehat Orange Reserve 2023. The first red wine was an Arctur, Karmrahyut, from Byurakan, Aragatsotn, whose name “describes the uniqueness of the wine – like Arcturus, the brightest star in the northern hemisphere.” The second red wine was Hazarvaz, Areni Noir 2022, the grapes harvested from a century-old vineyard in Yerevan/Vayots Dzor region, with only 1000 vines. The last wine, a Vozkevaz Karasi Collection, Haghtanak 2020, from Ararat/Aragatsotn Region, is an amphora wine, made from a native Haghtanak grape found only in Armenia.
Ernst Drayss, Aram Antonjan (NOAH), Michael Strauss, 2nd, 3rd and 4th from left, King’s Hall in background.
July 4th in Germany, Armenian-style (Photo courtesy of E. Drayss)
Vintners in Germany organize wine-tasting events to present the produce of their recent harvests and acquire new customers. The hosts in Lorsch stressed the fact that a wine-tasting is far more than merely sampling; it is an intercultural encounter, an exchange which brings together the customs, history, and climate conditions of different regions. Noteworthy was the presence among the guests of Franconian-Armenian vintner Garnik Harunyan.
When it comes to tasting Armenian wines in the heart of Germany Rhine Valley, one might imagine that after the first two or three glasses, intercultural exchange might lead to engaging participants in profound inquiries regarding, for example, the relative excellence of Germany’s and Armenia’s viniculture. As for the relative antiquity of viniculture in the two peoples’ history, that is not a matter of debate. But, as host Strauss (with a wink of the eye) explained, Georgians and Armenians do argue about who was first to cultivate grapes for the purpose of producing wine. The answer, he said, was to be found in the Bible. In the Book of Genesis, it is related that after the flood, Noah’s ark landed on Mount Ararat. When the waters had receded, God told Noah to leave the ark with all his family and the livestock, and he did so. “And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard; And he drank of the wine, and was drunken….” (Genesis, 9, 20-21).
Dining and Cooking