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The fall of 2019 will mark the first time Wine Collection Garden vineyard in Armenia will produce wine from some of its varieties. The wines will be experimental, so that the winemakers can figure out which newly catalogued grape varieties can be used.
Gastrovino has talked about the vineyard with Frunz Harutyunyan, Deputy Director of Vine and Wine Foundation of Armenia.
The vineyard
Wine Collection Garden is located in Armavir marz. Founded by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, it is owned by locals, mostly residents of villages adjacent to the city of Etchmiadzin. The vineyard covers the area of 2.3ha: 1ha is the demonstration sector and 1.3ha is where the varieties are grown for winemaking.
Image by: Vine and Wine Foundation of Armenia
There were several similar vineyards in Armenia in the Soviet period, but they gradually disappeared after the country gained independence. The main goal of the vineyard opened in Armavir three years ago is to preserve and research the DNA of Armenian grapes.
The objectives
The primary objective of the project is to preserve the natural diversity of varieties. According to Frunz Harutyunyan, Armenia has a huge amount of them, which is both source of pride and evidence that viniculture and winemaking were born in this region.
“This vineyard is an important guarantee that we will not lose our rich heritage. We don’t rule out that the number of such vineyards will increase in the future,” added Harutyunyan.
Image by: Vine and Wine Foundation of Armenia
The people working in Wine Collection Garden register and document every variety. It is a guarantee that no variety will be lost to unexpected disease or vermin.
“For instance, there are no means against Phylloxera, you can only vaccinate the grapes to prevent it. Phylloxera is just starting to spread in Armenia and there’s a danger it might affect all vineyards over the years. If it happens, we will face a huge threat of losing varieties, and for that reason only this vineyard is extremely important,” stressed Frunz Harutyunyan.
Image by: Vine and Wine Foundation of Armenia
New varieties
There are over 600 known varieties in Armenia, but fewer than 10 are actually cultivated.
Wine Collection Garden already has 300 varieties as opposed to the 60 catalogued in 2018.
After identifying the varieties, the vineyard staff determines if they can be used in winemaking. The grapes can be harvested in the 4th or even 5th year of cultivation, so 2019 is the first year when multiple varieties will be tested in Wine Collection Garden.
Image by: Vine and Wine Foundation of Armenia
The vineyard has many exclusive varieties and some others don’t even have a name because they have not been catalogued before. Wine Collection Garden learned that through a genetic research. One of these varieties is Mormor from Yeghegnadzor, a grey grape with semi-translucent skin.
The cultivation
Image by: Vine and Wine Foundation of Armenia
Only one part of the vineyard is equipped with drip irrigation system now, but the owners hope to expand it to the rest of the vineyard and even install anti-hail nets.
Herbicides are not used, unless chemical help is required to fight off vermin.
“This type of vineyard has multiple varieties which all have different levels of resistance, so it is very difficult to abandon chemical means,” explained Fruzn Harutyunyan.
Lusin Mkrtchyan
Photos courtesy of Vine and Wine Foundation of Armenia
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