Voskehat Wine Fest

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From Teisheban’s pots to a family business establishment. 

The idea of creating Manukyan Wine was born by chance. We were visiting Erebuni fortress with our family guests. Our attention was immediately drawn to the wine barrels and their history. I clearly remember that moment when we reached Teishebani’s barrels and began to read the explanations with great interest.

The thought emerged as a crazy challenge - is it possible to revive that old tradition, but with new technologies? We created our principles from the very beginning.

The wines that Armenia was known for were usually made from non-Armenian endemic grapes or made from a mixture of types. At the core of our work, we wanted to instill family traditions. And the name of the company is not accidental. Manukyan is our family name.

Our primary goal is not to make money. Of course, any business pursues profit, but our primary goal is to get high-quality wine with local raw materials, European technologies, and the latest methods.

First, we prepared a wine in our house and presented it to our friends. When we received positive feedback from people, we decided to turn that experience into a business. It was 2015, and a year later we registered the company and started producing. In 2016, we made the first purchases, the first bottlings and entered the market.

Manukian wines are made only from endemic grape varieties. 

We only use local endemic varieties: Voskehat and Areni. The choice is made based on the following factors. These two are pure Armenian, regional varieties. There are not many such varieties. The problem is that most of these varieties of grapes are mixes. We want to make wine from pure grape sorts, i.e., it should have no mutation in its gene.

Our specialists have thoroughly studied all types of grapes, examined all available literature to understand which species are best to produce.

As a result of this long process, we chose Voskehat and Areni. Raw materials must also be of high quality for making high-quality wine. Even it’s a bit cheaper to use damaged raw materials; you can never get good wine from it. 80% of the raw material for wine is grapes. If the grapes are right, in addition to being physically healthy, then the result will be satisfying. We do not choose the cheapest raw material for us through price bargaining.

Drinking wine is fashionable

The Armenian wine market has developed not only within the country but also abroad. This tendency has several reasons. Armenian wine is becoming recognizable both in Armenia and abroad.

The second factor is the Armenian market. The culture of drinking wine has become fashionable for the local consumer. Drinking wine is trendy. Depending on what class of restaurant you visit, you can already imagine what amount of vodka will be drunk and what amount of wine.

Ten years ago, if people of all ages were supposed to drink good Russian vodka, now, people under the age of 35-40 prefer high-quality wine, even though it’s expensive.

Creativity is growing in the wine market.

Like wine drinking, its production is also trendy. The popularity leads to an increase in demand, and an increase in demand leads to the formation of new companies.

Today, both small family businesses and large companies are being formed in Armenia, which tries to implement larger-scale projects.

Moreover, creativity is growing in the market, which is good. I, personally, admire the ideas of my competitors and highly appreciate the work they have done.

If one wants to make wine in Armenia, he/she will always find something interesting. 

The number of locations where the wine is produced also increases across the country. Wines are produced in different parts of Armenia. In well-known traditional regions, such as Vayots Dzor, and recently in Artsakh, winemaking has begun to flourish. The factories, which were closed after the collapse of the USSR are getting reopened. Thanks to the geography of Armenia, each region has different flavors and aromas. Thus the wines are quite different.

The purpose of drinking wine is not to get drunk fastly. It is a pleasure.

The choice of wine is very close to the logic of choosing clothes. It mostly depends on your plans. Wine is not just alcohol. It’s an alcoholic beverage that is not intended for just getting drunk. If that was the goal, there are far cheaper and effective methods for that. Wine is a process, which is a joy, a pure pleasure. 

Wine should match the situation, environment, and food. If you have chosen a heavy meat dish, red wine is a perfect choice. This is not news.

 If it’s a light meal, or it’s summer, and you need a refreshing drink, the choice turns to white wine or rose, if it’s already the dessert time.

The choice of wine depends not on the season but the mood and desire of the person.

The basic formula is: In the cause-consequence chain, the choice of the color or type of wine is not the cause but the consequence.

Red with red meat, white with white food, and pink with dessert.

Armenian wines are competitive in the world market. 

Armenian wines already ensured their unique spot. They are well known abroad and are developing with huge steps. 

We can and do compete with world wines. There’s a need for some more time. The European productions - French, Italian, Spanish, have far-going history and had state support for centuries. For hundreds of years, these countries have had traditions of wine production.

In the case of Armenia, the story is a little different. The loss of our state has led to the loss of winemaking.

Even Herodotus mentioned about Armenians making wine. But about six centuries after the loss of independence, we lost these traditions. Only in the 19th century, it begins to revive.

So winemaking is not new to us — The long-forgotten past.

Wine production is a creative process. 

In this work, I like the transformation part. This is a process close to magic when there are grapes first, and then it turns into wine.

 I like the transition from one state of this ingredient to another. This is a process of creation, composition. Creating something is a powerful feeling. This is my favorite part of this job.

Only the producer will understand this feeling. It’s very similar to a story where you didn’t do anything, then you take soil, plant an apple tree, and it suddenly crops up.

It was land, but now it’s a harvest. It is an indescribable feeling to see the result after investing time in finance. It compensates all difficulties.

Texts by Lusine Voskanyan

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What is peculiar about “Manukyan” wines:

Its main difference from other wines of the Armenian market is the selection of grapes. The

finest quality grapes are chosen from the Areni area, processed using the latest technologies

and modern equipment but staying loyal to the traditional. The wines vary, accumulating, and

illustrating the characteristics typical to their location, area, and grape type. For instance, the grape sort can be identified from the first sip of the wine. 

Interestingly, the wines of «Manukyan Wine» are made of only grapes: 

Of course, the white one is made of Voskehat sort, the rose and the red one are made of Areni:

The explanation of the word wine is as follows: a drink made of grape. The products that are

not made from grapes can be alcoholic beverages, may have high quality, but they cannot be considered to be wine.

How to distinguish the good wine from the bad one? 

It’s a matter of taste. For example, some people love bad wines. In Armenia, the culture of finding a good wine started developing recently, but their number increases every day but, in my opinions, it’s not enough yet. Good or bad is a matter of choice; the winemaker cannot insist. There is no formula for that. There are specific parameters, but maybe lousy wine is good for someone.

They say the culture of wine started developing in Armenia, what is your opinion? 

Of course, the situation changes. People begin to love wine, not just like a drink, but as an experience. They enjoy the wine, not just drink it. 

Is it possible to restore wine traditions that existed in Armenia several millennia ago?

Yes, people try to go back to pots and other similar stuff, but the production volumes make it hard to imagine. It’s more convenient for the show for people. Manufacturing with ancient technologies is tough. It’s more convenient for presenting to people, but it’s very hard to implement production using old techniques. 

 Can Armenian wine compete with world-famous brands in the international market today?

Of course, it can, including “Manukyan” wines. We are not going to make changes to our preparation methods to guarantee quality stability. Changes can only be made to equipment used. Technologies cannot change much.