GIZ and the Vine and Wine Foundation of Armenia are going to help Vayots Dzor Regional State College and 9 homemade winemakers, who are not included in the state assistance programs, to overcome the challenges caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.

Head of GIZ Armenia’s rivate Sector Development and Technical Vocational Education and Training program in South Caucasus Aram Babayan, GIZ Armenia’s Private Sector Development and Technical Vocational Education and Training South Caucasus Programme (PSDTVET) Team Leader Armenia, has told GastroVino that the organization has been working with producers of homemade wine in Vayots Dzor, Aragatsotn and Tavush marzes since 2017 and the focus is on improving the quality of their wines and diversifying their sources of income.

The main market for the products of some of the winemakers involved in GIZ projects are gastro yards that have also suffered from the epidemic.

“We have collaborated with the UNDP Integrated Rural Tourism Development project in Armenia to introduce the concept of gastronomic yards to our winemakers. Their wine was consumed during the tourists’ visits to the gastro yards, and since there were no tourist visits because of the epidemic, the winemakers faced a serious issue with sales,” said Babayan, noting that the winemakers did not label their products so the wines had neither label nor brand, which is why they could not be sold in the market.

Individual brands and labels will be developed for the wines produced by these winemakers and the Vayots Dzor college students involved in the assistance program. This will enable them to bottle and sell the products in local and international markets.

“We have taken into account a number of factors when selecting the participants of the program. The Vine and Wine Foundation has organized a private wine tasting, during which experts assessed the wines, and then we chose those that were ready for bottling and sale. While making the decision, we took into account the level of engagement of the winemakers in our courses and how actively they participated. We have also taken into account their potential for wine production,” explained Aram Babayan.

He has noted that a design company will work with each participant individually and suggest several options, after which the manufacturer will choose what they like the best. The branding is scheduled to be completed by 2021.

“Wine names and brands must be registered with the Intellectual Property Agency, which can take up to several months. When that is done, the winemakers can start bottling the wines. In the future, our long-term goal will be to assist with bringing the products to the market,” concluded Aram Babayan.

Marie Tarian