S1E58: A Toast to Yerevan! With Mariam Sagetelyan
This is the last in our 5-part series featuring Armenia’s modern wine renaissance and our final episode of 2021. This time we focus on what’s most important, that is . . . eating and drinking in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia! Following the evolution of wine culture in the country that moved from a brandy-producing and brandy drinking culture to embracing their millennia-old wine history and reviving wine production and wine drinking. The Thieves speak to Mariam Sagetelyan, the co-owner of the most important wine bar in Yerevan, called InVino, which is still the only wine-only restaurant bar in Yerevan. Wine is all they sell and serve. Artem Parseryan also joins the program, the winemaker at Trinity Canyon Vineyards, a project started by Mariam’s father and two other friends, hence “Trinity” so that they could supply their wine bar and restaurant at the time. Their venture began only about a decade or so ago, but it was a time when reliable commercial wine was very hard to come by. They literally had to fill the supply for the demand they had created.Respect for indigenous varieties, a look at self-rooted international grapes as a way to better understand the phylloxera-free sites of the Vayots Dzor and "to karas or not to karas" are some of the many topics John and Sara discuss as they uncover the many specialties that are to be savoured in Yerevan. Join us as we ring in the New Year with a glass of areni in hand!