2012 Zorah 'Yeraz' Areni Noir

Zorah

Armenia / Yeghegnadzor / Zorah

This fabulous wine is the top cuvée from Zorah, and 2012 is its inaugural release. Yeraz fittingly means "dream" in Armenian, as well as being the name of the wife of Zorah founder Zorik Gharibian. This wine represents the dream of reviving an ancient wine culture and rediscovering forgotten places and lost native grapes.
The pinnacle of high-altitude viticulture, the grapes for Yeraz come from semi-abandoned bush vineyards planted well over a hundred years ago at altitudes of 1600m above sea level. Raw and remote, these vines reflect the resilient and tenacious spirit of this land and its people.
Fermentation occurs in rough concrete tanks using only natural yeast. Drawing inspiration from ancient local traditions, Yeraz is then aged for a prolonged period in local amphorae of varying sizes, some of which are dug deep in the ground and sealed with wax to conserve the intense flavours and varietal purity of the wine. In addition to the amphorae, large untoasted casks are also used to soften the tannins. After very light filtration the wine spends a further year in bottle.

November, 2015

Julia Harding MW

jancisrobinson.com

18/20

First vintage of this wine. This wine is made from the small parcel of centenarian vines from which cuttings were taken to plant the more recent vineyards. Fermented in unlined concrete tanks and aged in a mix of concrete tanks, very large untoasted casks and traditional, partially buried Armenian amphorae.
A little less expressive than the Karasí 2012 but it has wonderful depths and great length and still that fresh peppery quality of this variety. The fruit is sweet and lightly herbal. More juicy at this stage than the 2013 Yeraz but the overall balance of the 2013 shows the superiority of that vintage. This is a glorious combination of an expressive variety and a great site, with the winemaking subtle enough to let both shine.

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About Zorah

Zorah was founded by Zorik Gharibian, an Armenian who studied in Venice and Milan before embarking on a successful fashion career built on the principles of tradition, innovation and excellence. In the 2000s he decided to pour his heart and soul in his real love: wine. For Gharibian the only path was to look to the land of his forefathers. He planted vineyards surrounded by dramatic snow-capped mountains, 1,400m above sea level in the small rural village of Rind in the heart of Yeghegnadzor, Armenia’s top grapegrowing region. It’s here that he set out to create wines that reflect his ethos: contemporary yet with profound traditional roots.
Zorah’s 40-hectare ungrafted vineyard sits on rocky, limestone-rich soils. It’s planted to carefully selected indigenous vines derived from the abandoned vineyards of a nearby 13th century monastery. The region enjoys long, dry summers, with remarkably vivid sunlight and high daytime temperatures contrasting with cool nights, giving a lengthy growing season that lasts to the end of October.

About

Alberto Antonini was born near Florence and went on to study at the University of Florence, as well as the Université de Bordeaux and later at the University of California, Davis. After working his first vintage in 1980 at Poggiotondo, his family's winery in Chianti, he worked as assistant winemaker at Frescobaldi in Tuscany before taking up head winemaker roles at Col d'Orcia and then Antinori. He has since become one of the world's most influential consultants, being named in the top five of a 2015 Decanter poll of the world's greatest winemakers as voted by their peers.