Karas

Armenia claims it was making wine before anyone else (even the Georgians and Moldovians) millennia ago, but we’ll settle for the present. Karas, which means ‘amphora’ in Armenian, refers to a sacred wine-making clay vessel used for making wine for 6,000 years. In fact, Karas is also the name of one of Armenia’s foremost wineries, dedicated to growing the country’s native grape, Areni, in the volcanic soil of the Armavir region. The winery began in 2003 as part of Argentinian-Armenian partnership.

In recent times, Armenia’s ancient oenological culture has produced some very tantalizing wines in the European style, like those made by Karas. The reds are juicy (a term used by wine professionals to characterize a wine’s body and density), balanced, redolent of deep red fruits without any acidity, which came as a delightful surprise as I sampled one Karas’ red wines made from a blend of 35% Syrah, 35% Malbec, 30% Cabernet Franc.