Category: 2019

Vineyards are popping up all over the Armenian highlands, continuing the millennia-old wine tradition purportedly started by Noah.

BY J.P. MAURO
From Aleteia

When the Great Flood subsided and Noah famously landed his ark upon what many believe to be Mount Ararat, the old shipwright disembarked and, we are told by the biblical narrative, he began planting vineyards, fermenting wine, and getting drunk. As there was no mention of alcoholic beverages prior to this account, the discovery of fermentation became attributed to Noah, and thus such spirits became affectionately known as “Noah’s Wine.”

Very little is known of Noah’s winemaking, aside from a few brief lines in Genesis, but now, thanks to a team of American and Armenian archaeologists, we know that the region surrounding Noah’s landing point was utilized for vineyards as far back as 6,100 years ago. In 2007, they discovered a cave, called Areni-1, where they found a four-foot basin made of hard-packed clay, inside of which were buried large clay pots or karas used in the process of wine fermentation.

From the traces of grape juice within the karas, the team determined that this may indeed be the oldest example of an intentional fermentation operation. Also discovered at the site were seeds, stems and grape cells, which researchers are studying to see if they can be revitalized and brought back. This strain, areni, named for the region, is such an old cultivar that it has no known ancestors.

There are many such varieties of ancient strains of wine grape, and one vintner, Vahe Keusgheurian, has opened several nurseries on his vineyard in order to study the indigenous vine varieties, 300 of which have already been discovered across Armenia’s nearly 42,000 acres of vineyards. Keusgheurian, who is known as the “Godfather of Armenian grapes,” told Wine and Spirits that he is hoping, “to see if [he] can find a jewel.”

Zorik Gharibian of Zorah winery is currently working with strains of areni, attempting to revive the ancient fermentation process and utilizing what few karas he was able to muster. The art of crafting ancient karas has been forgotten, but there are surviving pieces from the 19th century, which he was able to acquire. His wife, a potter, plans on opening a pottery school that will teach people to make these ancient casks again.

Gharibian hopes to keep his operation small for the moment, and is producing about 100,000 bottles per year, but there are other vineyards that are producing ancient varieties of wine that can be traced far back into Armenia’s history.

In 2000, Gharibian brought in Italian oenologist Alberto Antonini to give an expert opinion on the wine. Antonini looked at the piles of limestone and volcanic rock and considered the extreme elevation and climate before flatly declaring, “It would be impossible not to make great wine from this site.”

While these operations are still quite new and it takes many years for a vineyard to come into its own production-wise, it is possible that very soon we may all be able to gather around and share a beverage that is not too far from the type Noah created in the years after the Flood.

This year’s 37 AYF Youth Corps participants are preparing to depart to Armenia, where they will be conducting summer camps for children in various locations across Armenia and Artsakh. Celebrating its 25th year of building bridges to the homeland, the AYF Youth Corps program will host camps in nine regions, including Gyumri, Proshyan, Artik, Stepanakert, Shushi, and others.

Among the participants are the recipients of the Sosé & Allen’s Legacy Foundation Travel Grant, which supports volunteerism in Armenia. Since 2014, the Grant has supported young people in building lasting connections to their homeland. Its goal is to ease the financial burden of volunteering in Armenia in order to allow more young women and men from the Diaspora an opportunity to experience Armenia first-hand and to contribute their skills and abilities to the betterment of our homeland.

The Sosé & Allen’s Legacy Travel Grant was established in loving memory of Armenian Youth Federation alumni Sosé Thomassian and Allen Yekikian. The dedicated couple volunteered, for years, to develop and expand the AYF Youth Corps program. They shared a strong belief in its mission—strengthening the ties between the Diaspora and Armenia by promoting meaningful participation of Diasporan youth in the nation-building process in Armenia and Artsakh.

The four recipients of the fellowship are Mariam Nerses, 19, a student at Pierce College; Naira Gourdikian, 19, a student at Cypress College; Harutyun Demirjian, 20, a student at California Polytechnic University, Pomona; and Lara Markarian, 18, a student at the University of California, Irvine.

This year also marks the first group of recipients of the Tamar Abkarian Memorial Scholarship. Established in 2018, the scholarship aims to support AYF Youth Corps participants—a program that was started in 1994 with Tamar’s vision. Tamar was one of the brave individuals who traveled to Armenia in the early 1990s to lay the foundation of the program, and she paved the way for hundreds of young Diasporans to live in, work in, and experience Armenia and Artsakh through AYF Youth Corps. At the time, working in an independent homeland seemed like a dream. But, she helped make it a reality. With her untimely passing in 2018, her family and friends established the scholarship in order to support the young people who are continuing the work Tamar started.

The recipients of the scholarship are Marinor Balouzian, 18, a student at the University of California, Berkeley; Victoria Cinquegrani, 19, a student at the University of California, Irvine; and Michelle Tervandian, 19, a student at California Polytechnic University, Pomona,

“AYF Youth Corps would not exist without Tamar’s leadership in the 1990s, and Sosé and Allen’s work in the 2000s. Future generations of participants have the ability to build on the work these three exemplary alumni put into the program, and participate in the development of Armenia,” said Talin Saklarian, chairperson of the AYF Youth Corps Committee.

Founded in 1933 with organizational structures in over 17 regions around the world and a legacy of over eighty years of community involvement, the Armenian Youth Federation is the largest and most influential Armenian-American youth organization in the world, working to advance the social, political, educational, and cultural awareness of Armenian youth.

Armenian boxer Gurgen Hovhannisyan (+91 kg) beat his Turkish opponent Ilyas Muchahit during the European boxing championship games being held in Minsk, Belarus.

Hovhannisyan celebrated a 3 to 2 victory over his opponent and reached the quarterfinals, the National Olympic Committee reported.

The Armenian athlete had started performing from the semi-finals where he had defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Veletik Dusan 3-2.

Azerbaijan Again Skips another OSCE Monitoring of Frontlines
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday slammed Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov for making what it called “damaging” statements, when he remarked last week in Washington that shootings along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan border should not become an obstacle to substantive talks for the resolution of the Karabakh conflict. Thus far, the incidents on the line of contact have always been spurred by Azerbaijan.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan said Wednesday that during last week’s talks in Washington, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Mammdyarov discussed steps that can be taken to stabilize the situation along the border that is aggravated because of Azerbaijan’s actions. Naghdalyan also added that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs called for the sides to take immediate steps to restore a conducive atmosphere to establish peace and preserve the cease-fire, and made clear proposals regarding humanitarian sphere and risk reduction.

“The disinformation by Azerbaijan on issues beyond the discussed frameworks suggests that Azerbaijan does not intend to implement these proposals and the calls by the co-chairs. Moreover, the allegations that the negotiations can be successfully conducted under conditions of regular violation of the cease-fire regime cause significant damage to the negotiations and are disrupting the peace process,” said Naghdalyan.

“The claims by the Azerbaijani foreign minister do not correspond to the truth. This is an unconstructive approach which devalues the seriousness of the peace process,” added Naghdalyan.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan on Wednesday, once again, skipped a scheduled ceasefire monitoring mission of the OSCE, making the third consecutive instance that Azerbaijan fails to lead the monitoring from its side of the border.

According the Artsakh Foreign Ministry, the OSCE monitoring was completed based on the intended schedule.