Wine with Leslie: My favourite wines I tried in Armenia
I travelled to Armenia in May and absolutely loved it
Armenia is in the news thanks to their election on June 6, which saw the pro-Europe party led by Nikol Pashinyan retain power. I spent a week in Yerevan in May and loved it, not just for the welcoming, charming Armenians but for the wine and food (quite like Türkiye) and the general atmosphere.
Yerevan is a vibrant city full of cafes and wine bars; it felt closer to Barcelona or Milan than I could ever have expected from a former Soviet city in the Caucasus. Galleries and museums are everywhere and in the city’s longest established wine bar, In Vino, four glasses of excellent Armenian orange wine and a platter of meats and cheeses cost just €32.
I was in Armenia along with around 300 wine professionals for the 33rd Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (CMB) Red and White wine competition. Around 6,700 wines were blind tasted from all over the world and at my table we had some fascinating flights. Yes, there was an excellent batch of Saint Émilion Grand Cru reds from Bordeaux, but just as exciting was a flight of saperavi-based reds from Moldova, and I found out that Mexico can make solid cabernet francs.
As usual with the CMB, it was a fascinating trip and we visited a number of Armenian wineries as well as the Areni-1 cave, site of the oldest known winery dating to around 3900 BCE, discovered in 2007 by an Armenian-Irish archeology team. Areni is also the name of Armenia’s best red grape; I featured Zorah ‘Karasi’ areni here in March (Worldwide Wines, wineonline). The best Armenian whites I tried were from ‘voskehat’ grapes; also watch for Armenian brandy.
Armenia calls itself ‘the oldest newest wine country”, as new wineries keep opening. Suggestions this week are inspired by what I tasted in Yerevan.
This won a coveted gold medal at CMB in Yerevan (and at NOffLA a couple of years ago), it has long been a favourite of mine.
Portuguese whites are always underrated and worth trying.
A blend of fernão pires, arinto, and other grapes, this has ripe apricot and yellow apple aromas, fleshy white fruits on the palate and balancing acidity.
- JJ O’Driscolls; Cass & Co. Dungarvan; Vintry; Martins; Swans Naas
Another flight at CMB in Yerevan that showed well at my table was Ribera del Duero, always a reliable region for ripe rich reds in my experience.
This is a solid example of the style, new to O’Briens and reduced from €23.
Created by three friends this is low intervention and sustainable, blackberry, and liquorice aromas, ripe dark fruits on the palate with admirable freshness. ‘El Holgazán’ means ‘The Slacker’ by the way, serve cool.
- O’Briens
The 2023 edition of this wine won a gold at the CMB but is not on shelves here yet.
I have a note on the 2016 from three years ago and it was packed with vibrant blackberry and dark cherry fruits, integrated supple tannins giving it some structure and with some chocolate cedar and pencil lead notes making it unmistakably right bank Bordeaux.
- Worldwide Wines, worldwidewines.ie; The Corkscrew, Corkscrew.ie
Cork’s own Rebel City Distillery won best vodka in Ireland at the World Drink Awards with this new vodka flavoured with pomelo peels from women-led organic farms in Kerala. Pomelo is the largest citrus fruit, an ancestor of oranges and grapefruits. Zesty and floral-citrusy on the nose, a smooth palate and a pleasing peppery kick on the finish. Serve from the freezer or make cocktails (eg Lemondrop, Cosmo or Screwdriver).
- Bradley’s: celticwhiskeyshop.com; irishmalts.com; rebelcitydistillery.com
