Zorah, Armenia.
Zorah was founded by Zorik Gharibian, an Armenian who studied in Venice and Milan before embarking on a successful fashion career built on the principles of tradition, innovation and excellence. In the 2000s he decided to pour his heart and soul in his real love: wine. For Gharibian the only path was to look to the land of his forefathers. He planted vineyards surrounded by dramatic snow-capped mountains, 1,400m above sea level in the small rural village of Rind in the heart of Yeghegnadzor, Armenia’s top grapegrowing region. It’s here that he set out to create wines that reflect his ethos: contemporary yet with profound traditional roots.
Zorah’s 40-hectare ungrafted vineyard sits on rocky, limestone-rich soils. It’s planted to carefully selected indigenous vines derived from the abandoned vineyards of a nearby 13th century monastery. The region enjoys long, dry summers, with remarkably vivid sunlight and high daytime temperatures contrasting with cool nights, giving a lengthy growing season that lasts to the end of October.
'Voskì’ Voskeat Garandmak 2020
Ancient indigenous varieties, archaeological evidence suggests that both Voskèat and Garandmak have been present in Armenia for millennia. Voskèat translates as "golden seed” and is considered queen of Armenia’s grapes. It's a delicate, gold-coloured grape with small, compact, relatively thin-skinned berries and bunches in the shape of a cross. Garandmak means "fat tail” and is one of the most popular grapes. It's a much hardier variety, greenish yellow in colour, with larger, thicker-skinned berries and compact bunches.
Although both varieties are present throughout Armenia’s territory, the exceptional terroir of Vayots Dzor - with its high-altitude, low-vigour, phylloxera-free, rocky, sandy soils coupled with wide diurnal temperature range - yields distinctively balanced fruit. The grapes for Voskì are sourced from old vineyards at altitudes of 1400m from vines grown on original, ungrafted roots.
Fermentation with indigenous yeasts occurs in large, temperature-controlled concrete vats which are left rough deliberately to favour micro-oxygenation. Ageing then continues in concrete vats for eleven months with a further six months in bottle. Concrete is preferred to stainless steel as it allows the wine to breath over the maturation period.
50% Voskeat, 50% Garandmak. Fermented and aged in concrete tanks. Fermented with ambient yeast. No malo. pH 3.25, TA 6.4 g/l, RS 2 g/l.
According to winemaker Alberto Antonini, the Voskeat tends to give stone-fruit flavours, the Garandmak brings freshness, and this does have a creamy stone-fruits aroma. Although there is a breadth to the flavours on the palate, it is still crisp and fresh, reminding me a little of a Rhône white but with higher acidity.
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