GOOD WINE, HAPPY VINES & A LITTLE MUSICAL MAGIC IN THE ARMENIAN COUNTRYSIDE! 🎶
GENERAL INFO
📍 LOCATION: Sasunik village, near Ashtarak, Aragatsotn Province
🍷 WINERY: Van Ardi Wines
👨🌾 FOUNDER: Varuzhan Mouradian
📅 ESTABLISHED: 2008 (vineyards); first vintage 2013
🏡 TYPE: Family-owned boutique winery
⛰️ ELEVATION: Approximately 1,050 metres above sea level
🍇 GRAPES: Indigenous Armenian varieties including Areni and Voskehat
🌱 VINEYARDS: Organically farmed
🎶 SPECIAL FEATURE: Music played to the vines and a vineyard bell tower
🥂 EXPERIENCES: Winery tours, tastings and wine-and-food pairings
🚗 FROM YEREVAN: Approximately 30–45 minutes by car, depending on traffic
📅 OUR VISIT: 26 July 2023
Organise a tour via US! ☺️
LOCATION
🍷 WINERY WINERY HERE WE COME!!!
The fabulous “passion project” idea of Varuzhan Mouradian from LA who moved his family here in 2008.
Van Ardi is the first boutique winery in Armenia!
I have to admit that back at home I dont drink white wine as it always gives me a headache, but here, I drank all the whites and it didnt affect me at all! The wines here are really clean and different and dont give any issues
We were picked up at Republc Square, 13 of us met there and with the guidance and expertise of ARMENIA & BEYOND, we jumped on the mini bus and got to our adventure!
It took us around 30mins to get to the winery and it was a pleasant drive
And this is us! all full of colour and spark, we just wanted wine and more wine!
The place had such a nice energy, set in the countryside with the gorgeous vines in the backround
The restaurant area of the winery was nicely set up for a group to come by soon to party!
Behind the vines you can see beautiful Ararat mountains
The terrain here is 1050m above sea level, endowed with rocky volcanic soils rich in minerals and the climate is hot during the day and cool at night, perfect for wine
The gorgeous colours of the home land, with its dark red soil contrasting with the greens of the vines and scattered grass
I think this huge dog just wanted to be loved (or was playing dead!)
Getting wine ready! They host a lot of parties and weddings here
ringing the wineyard bell was so much fun!
So the vibrations from this large bell help to infuse the grapes with certain vibrational frequencies to help grow beautifully
Two of Armenia’s best-known indigenous grape varieties are part of Van Ardi’s winemaking story and another interesting fact, Van Ardi has introduced Bazalt, a wine crafted using hand-carved basalt stone vessels inspired by ancient winemaking traditions
The wines we tried – all of these wines were beautiful, for the first time I didnt have a favourite!
The food was fantastc!!
Our little tent which protected us from the short burst of warm rain – was such a nice experience, we had wines paried with our food and it went down so well – this place is little gem and I would recommend it!
26JUL26
