Yielding Quality, Diversity and Transformation

28.10.2024

Yielding Quality, Diversity and Transformation

In a country renowned for its wine heritage, Armenia’s wine industry has experienced even more significant growth over the past decade. Regional Post caught up with Savar Wines to delve into their wines, learn their story and find out the key values behind the brand. 

Text : Henna Aposhian
Photo : Ashkhen Davtyan

 

Born and raised in the old village of Rind, Vayots Dzor, Vardan Sahakyan knew he wanted to put his little village on the global map. Later in life, he moved to abroad and gained business expertise, which paved the way for his return to his native land with a groundbreaking concept: Savar. 

Ever since he was young, Vardan remembers how his grandmother would work in the vineyards and make homemade wine for the family. It’s no surprise that wine had significance for him from a young age, considering that Vayots Dzor, the province where Rind is located, is home to the world’s oldest known winery and is the site of some of the country’s most prominent contemporary vineyards.

The initial goal with Savar was to come back to where it all started and provide business opportunities for the local villagers. It was back in 2018 when Vardan first purchased old vineyards and began working with autochthonous. All these years later, they have a much larger grape variety, including Areni, Khatoun Kharji, Voskehat, Tozot, Milagh, and more. 

Since its establishment, Savar has provided job opportunities for more than 30 families in the village. However, they emphasize that Savar was not the pioneer in this matter, as other renowned Armenian Wines such as Zorah, Noah, and Trinity and others have brought attention to the villages. As they laid the foundation, Savar joined them and emphasized women’s employment both in the field and in their Yerevan office. 

In fact, most of Savar’s employees are women, occupying 90% of the job positions. The reason why they emphasize women’s rights is that they know for a fact that men are not the only ones who are running the industry, as lots of women have worked and are currently working and developing the field. “We still use old-fashioned methods; one example is how we still pick the grapes by hand, and the love and dedication of our women workers make our wines more valuable,” says Ani Hovsepyan, Savar’s Export Manager.

In fact, the person in charge of cultivating and reviving the lands is Tikin Siran. With more than 20 years of experience in gardening and growing grapes, Tikin Siran, who’s a local lady from Rind, is the one who’s growing Savar’s lands through her new standards. She became the brand’s leading adviser, or as everyone else calls her, “The queen of the vineyard.” 

 

 

They are currently working on establishing their winery with a tasting room. Another of Savar’s goals is to improve and contribute to the development of tourism in Armenia, so they plan to host international guests here in their winery. Savar has also been participating in expos and international wine competitions outside of Armenia, implementing alternative measures to approach their objective. 

Why should people choose Savar wines over other international wine labels? Ani Hovsepyan, the Export Manager of Savar Wines and Arpine Aleksanyan, the Brand’s Ambassador explained that, in Armenia, grapes are grown differently. Whether through the territories, the minerals, or the ambient, each element plays a distinct role, contributing to the individuality of grapes from every region.

On a broader scale, they are trying to tackle two main issues: bringing more awareness to Armenia’s wine industry and offering high-quality wines. As the wine industry is separated into two parts, the new world, and the old world, Armenia falls under the antic world category, and most people tend to forget and overlook it. “We are contributing in that sense as we’re bringing Armenia’s name to the global wine industry. Through our participation and efforts in getting Savar Wines distributed abroad, we are addressing this important issue,” adds Arpine. Then there is the issue with the wine quality, and one of Savar’s main priorities is to maintain high quality, as they believe that it reflects not only them but also the country as a whole. “It’s not only about us, but we care about our country’s name and how it is represented on a larger scale.”

 

 

Although it has a nice ring to it, it requires time to grasp the idea behind the name Savar. However, we learned that the location inspired it; the main lands are in Aghavnadzor, and the winery is in Rind, and these two are separated by a small captivating valley, making you want to soar from the winery to the lands. Savar is the same as soaring — looking down from the height of a bird’s flight through mountains and gardens. The fresh air, mountains, and the high sky are all part of the experience. The location itself invites the visitors to free their minds, drink wine, and soar. “The desire to soar through a bottle of wine. That’s how the name Savar was born,” explains Arpine.
 

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