ArmInfo. Since 2015, the Trinity Canyon Vineyards winery, located in the village of Aghavnadzor, Vayots Dzor region, has begun the certification process for organic vineyards.
At a press conference in the Ministry of Economy on December 3, the owner of the winery Hovakim Saghatelyan announced the start of the export process of organic Armenian wines. In particular, two types of wines will be supplied to the European market - "6100" (from red grapes of the Areni variety) and "Crossroad'' (75% of grapes of the Sira variety and 25% of Areni grapes), the labels of which show a green flag, which is evidence of organic certification. It is worth noting that Saghatelyan is a pioneer in Armenia in the issue of export of organic wine.
He emphasized that the demand in European countries, in particular Switzerland, Sweden, France, Germany, as well as in the USA for organic Armenian wine is three times higher than the supply. In particular, in this regard, he noted that the production of organic wine <6100> amounts to 6 thousand bottles and wine <Crossroads> - 8 thousand bottles, the price of which ranges from 6 to 8 euros.
According to him, all over the world, depending on the level of development, the share of organic wine production is from 3 to 8%, in some countries, this figure is higher - from 10% -12%. In Armenia, the process has only just begun.
In an interview with ArmInfo correspondent, the winemaker noted that in general the production of Trinity winery amounted to 32 thousand bottles, of which 50-60% will be delivered to European markets, and the rest is sold in Armenia. In this regard, he emphasized that in the country there is a tendency of growing demand for organic, high-quality wine.
According to Saghatelyan, Armenia has no alternative but to develop organic winemaking. At the same time, he emphasized that the government should pay special attention to the development of the organic direction, and implement programs aimed at promoting organics, in particular subsidizing. According to the winemaker, organic farming can become a brand of Armenia. In an interview with ArmInfo correspondent, the head of the Wine and Vine Foundation Zaruhi Muradyan noted that there is a worldwide demand for bio-organic wines. She noted that winemaking in Armenia is now at the stage of revival, and the Armenian consumer needs more time for organic wine to become one of the widely consumed ones. <Soon we will have 4 more enterprises that will specialize in the production of organic wine. If this trend continues, then, I think, within 5 years, organic wine producers will occupy their niche in the Armenian market>, she concluded.
It should be noted that, according to the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, the volume of wine produced in Armenia in January-September 2019 increased by 44% to 8.6 million liters. According to the RA Customs Service, in the first half of 2019, Armenia exported 1.3 million liters of wine, with annual growth of 16.5%, with a decrease in customs value by 1.5% to $ 4.3 million. Traditionally, the main export market for Armenian wine is the Russian Federation (72.3%), followed by China (5%), Switzerland (4%), USA (3.4%), Poland (2%), France (1.8 %), Italy (1.5%), Ukraine (1.2%), Georgia (1%) .