Clay karas jars buried in a village wine cellar

Wine & gastronomy

The Armenian Table: Wine & Food

Six days through the oldest winemaking landscape on earth, cooking in village kitchens and drinking with the people who made the bottle.

6 days / 5 nights4★ Yerevan, boutique guesthouses in the wine countrySmall group, max 8Easy

Length

6 days

Route

5 regions

Stay

4★ Yerevan, boutique guesthouses in the wine country

Season

May–November. September and October for the harvest.

The route

YerevanAreniVayots DzorAragatsotnArmavir

Highlights

  • Eight or nine producers, from garage cellars to serious estates
  • The Areni-1 cave, where a 6,100-year-old winery was excavated
  • Cooking dolma, ghapama, gata and lavash in three different kitchens
  • A harvest day in the vineyard if you come in September or October

Who this suitsPeople who plan holidays around meals, and anyone curious about a wine country most of Europe has not caught up with yet.

Day by day

Day1

Yerevan and the market

Arrival and an afternoon at GUM Market — sujukh, dried fruit, sheep cheese, sumac and blue fenugreek — followed by a wine bar crawl on Saryan Street to get the lie of the land.

YerevanDinner and tastings
Day2

Into Vayots Dzor

South to the wine country. The Areni-1 cave in the morning, then two producers in the afternoon: one modern and precise, one a village cellar with buried karas jars and wine poured from a jug. Dinner with the winemaker's family.

YeghegnadzorBreakfast, lunch, dinner
Day3

Old vines and Noravank

A morning among old bush vines, some ungrafted and over fifty years old, with a barrel tasting. Noravank in the afternoon — Momik's carving and the cantilevered stone stair — and a long dinner back in the village.

YeghegnadzorBreakfast, lunch, dinner
Day4

Cooking, and over the pass

A cooking morning: dolma wrapped by hand, ghapama in season, lavash from the tonir. Then over the Vardenyats pass at 2,410 metres to the Selim caravanserai, and west to Aragatsotn.

AragatsotnBreakfast, lunch
Day5

Aragatsotn and Armavir

A different terroir — high, volcanic, cooler — and the white Voskehat at its best. Two producers, and a visit to a family making fruit vodka and apricot preserves the way everyone's grandmother did.

YerevanBreakfast, lunch
Day6

Brandy, and home

The ARARAT cellars in the morning, a final tasting, and time to buy properly before your transfer to the airport. We box and pad anything you have bought along the way.

Departure dayBreakfast

What is included

In the price

  • Five nights with breakfast in 4★ and boutique properties
  • All transport with a driver who is not tasting
  • Specialist wine and food guide
  • All tastings — eight or nine producers
  • Three cooking sessions
  • Most meals, as listed
  • Airport transfers
  • Packing and boxing for wine you buy

Not included

  • International flights
  • Bottles to take home
  • Meals not listed
  • Insurance
  • Tips

Practical details

Price
From €979 per person on twin share.
Single supplement
€219 for the whole trip, if you would like a room to yourself.
Group size
Small group, max 8. Every package also runs privately for your party alone.
When it runs
May–November. September and October for the harvest.
Deposit
Multi-day journeys need a 20% deposit; the balance is due on arrival in Yerevan.
Cancellation
Free up to 14 days before departure. After that the deposit is retained. If we cancel, you get everything back.
Payment methods
Cash (AMD, USD, EUR, RUB), Visa, Mastercard, Mir, bank transfer, Idram and Telcell.

Route map

Every stop on the journey, in order. Distances are indicative, not a driving route.

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