Grape Guide
Areni
RedAreni is Armenia's leading black grape, named for the village in Vayots Dzor where it is thought to have originated. It makes dry and semi-sweet reds with bright acidity and red-fruit character, plus some rosé and brandy base, and is now grown at altitude by a growing group of quality-minded wineries.
Key characteristics
- Mid budding and late ripening, so it needs a long, warm autumn
- Thick-skinned berries on medium to large, compact bunches
- Good resistance to winter frost, only moderate resistance to fungal disease
- Suited to high, continental sites with large day to night temperature swings
- Cultivated for centuries in Armenia and linked to the Areni-1 winery site
Typical flavors
Major regions
Vayots Dzor (Armenia) · Ararat Valley (Armenia) · Armavir (Armenia) · Aragatsotn (Armenia) · Syunik (Armenia) · Nakhchivan (Azerbaijan)
Also known as
Areni Noir · Areni Chernyi · Areni Tcherny · Areny · Sev Areni · Malai Sev · Malayi (Nakhchivan · Azerbaijan) · Urza Sev · Sev Malahi (historic Armenian name)
Areni makes medium- to full-bodied reds that combine fresh acidity with fine, firm tannin and a core of red and darker fruit. In its lighter, earlier-picked form the wine is sinewy and mineral, with sour cherry and a peppery, herbal edge. Fuller examples from ripe fruit add blackberry, plum and a hint of tobacco or spice. The thick skins give good colour without heavy extraction, and the better wines age well in bottle.
Because the variety ripens late, quality depends on sites that are warm enough to finish the crop yet cool enough at night to hold acidity. That balance is found on the high, dry slopes of southern Armenia, where Areni is the benchmark red. Producers use it for dry table wine, semi-sweet red, rosé and brandy, and some vinify it in buried clay vessels (karases) in the traditional manner alongside stainless steel and oak.
Areni is generally considered one of the oldest cultivated varieties in Armenia and takes its name from the village of Areni in Vayots Dzor, in the south of the country near the border with Azerbaijan. Excavations at the nearby Areni-1 cave between 2007 and 2010 uncovered a winemaking installation dated to roughly 4100 BC, with pressing platform, fermentation vessels and seeds of cultivated Vitis vinifera. The site shows that wine was made in the district for some six thousand years, though it does not prove that the vine grown there today descends directly from those vines.
Microsatellite work on Armenian germplasm has since given the variety firmer scientific footing. Sev Areni (Black Areni) is the correct identity for old vines in Vayots Dzor villages, some more than 200 years old, and a single genetic profile was found in many samples despite visible variation in the plants. It has a parent-offspring relationship with Sev Khardji and sits in the same cluster as other ancient Armenian varieties such as Tozot and Hadisi. The white-berried Spitak Areni, once suspected of being a colour mutation, turned out to be a progeny of Tozot and Sev Areni, whereas Mormor is a berry-colour variant of Sev Areni itself. Areni was also used to breed Tigrani. Until 1947 the variety was commonly cultivated in Armenia under the name Sev Malahi, and its synonym Malayi is used in Nakhchivan.
Areni buds at mid season and ripens late, so harvest usually runs well into autumn, and in cooler vintages at higher sites the fruit can be picked before it is fully ripe. Bunches are compact and medium to large, bearing fairly large berries with thick skins. Those skins offer only moderate protection against fungal disease, while the vine is well regarded for coming through winter frost, an advantage on the Armenian plateau where cold snaps can be severe. It tolerates wide swings between day and night temperatures, and it manages on poor, stony or calcareous soils at elevation. Commercial vineyards reported in Vayots Dzor sit at about 1,200 to 1,300 m above sea level, with some plantings higher. Synonymy is a recurring problem: Seyrak Areni and Areni Berqatu are described as separate varieties and should not be treated as Sev Areni.
The dominant style is dry red, medium to full in body, with lively acidity, silky to firm tannins and fruit in the red cherry, plum and blackberry range. Warm-site and late-harvest examples are richer and darker. Many producers raise the wine in oak, while others favour karases or neutral vessels to preserve freshness and mineral tension. Semi-sweet red has a long local following and remains popular domestically. Dry rosé is produced in smaller volumes, and Areni is also distilled as a base for Armenian brandy in some districts. Examples from Zorah are made with clay vessels, and the variety can also appear in blends with other local or international red grapes, though varietal bottlings carry most of its export reputation.
Where it grows
Vayots Dzor
The historic heart of the variety, with vineyards around Areni, Getap and Ishkatap at roughly 1,200 to 1,300 m. Producers here include Hin Areni (about 32 ha), Trinity Canyon, Old Bridge, Yacoubian-Hobbs and Zorah, which planted a six-hectare vineyard in 2006 near Yeghegnadzor.
Ararat and Armavir
These lowland provinces are Armenia's main grape-growing areas, hotter and drier than Vayots Dzor, and Areni is grown alongside other local and imported red varieties. Wines are generally riper and softer than those from the highlands.
Aragatsotn
A smaller wine region on the slopes of Mount Aragats where Areni is one of several local reds planted by newer quality estates.
Nakhchivan (Azerbaijan)
The variety is grown under the name Malayi in this exclave, where the Shahbuz winery bottles it, according to the principal reference on world vine varieties.