Avshar Wine Factory ( (''Avshari Ginu Gortsaran'')), is one of the leading producers of alcoholic drinks in

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

, located in the village of Avshar of

Ararat Province Ararat ( hy, Արարատ, ), is a province ('' marz'') of Armenia. Its capital and largest city is the town of Artashat. The province is named after the biblical Mount Ararat. It is bordered by Turkey from the west and Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan ...

. It was founded in 1968 to process the grapes of the fertile villages of Ararat plain, one of Armenia's leading agricultural areas. Armenian traditions and folklore suggest that wine production in the region dates back to

Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...

planting grapes upon his descent from

Mount Ararat Mount Ararat or , ''Ararat''; or is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in the extreme east of Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey and th ...

in the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...

History

The construction of the factory was launched in 1965 and completed in 1968, through the efforts of ''Temur Grigoryan''. It was operated as a state enterprise wine production unit of the

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

. At the beginning, the winery was able to process about 500-600 tons of grapes to produce sweet wine. However, the capacity of the Avshar winery was expanded rapidly through Grigoryan's efforts, to reach up to 1,000 tons by the end of 1970. The processing capacity of the factory was expanded gradually to become 2,000 tones in 1975, and 3,000 tones in 1985. The founder-director of the factory Temur Grigoryan died in 1994 at the age of 58. After the privatization of the factory in 1995, the winery was turned into a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

. T. Grigoryan's son ''Arayik Grigoryan'' became the chairman of the company, while Arayik's brothrt ''Aramayis Grigoryan'' became the executive director. In 1998, the operations of the factory were expanded to include the production of

cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cog ...

and

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...

, in addition to it original

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

production. Since 1999, the company has exported its products to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

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Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. As of 2013, the company has around 350 employees, of which 200 are working in the winery and 150 in the vineyards.

Products and brands

Currently, the factory produces

and

, all based on

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

technology. The factory has a variety of Armenian Cognac brands, including: ''Avshar'' (5 years old), ''Erivan'' (5 and 25 years old), ''Gladzor'' (18 years old), ''Ardvin'' (5 years old), ''Marmara'' (5 years old), ''Tigris'' (5 years old), ''Vagharshapat'' (15 years old), ''Berdasar'' (10 years old), ''Erivanskaya Guberniya'' (20 years old), ''Haghpat'' (3 years old), ''Drevne Armyanskiy'' (25 years old), ''Tsar Armenak'' (5 years old), ''Alaverdi'' (7 years old) and ''Tigran'' (5 years old). Vodka brands of the Avshar winery include: ''Pechatnaya'' classic transparent white vodka, ''Avshar Abrikosovaya'' apricot transparent white vodka, ''Avshar Kizilovaya'' cornelian cherry transparent white vodka, ''Avshar Tutovaya'' mulberry transparent white vodka and ''Imperskaya'' classic transparent white vodka.

References

External links

Official websiteFacebook page
{{coord, 39, 51, 48, N, 44, 40, 10, E, display=title Wineries of Armenia Armenian distilled drinks Distilleries in Armenia Food and drink companies of Armenia Agriculture companies established in 1968 Food and drink companies established in 1968 Armenian brands Drink companies of the Soviet Union