Armenia is one of the cradles of wine production where wine has been made for centuries in traditional clay amphorae called karas. Unfortunately, in modern Armenia, this traditional craftsmanship is almost extinct. However, the tradition of karas still lives in Armenian villages. Almost every Armenian rural household owned at least one karas amphora. During the Soviet regime, Armenia decided to shift from amphora wine production to production of spirit.

The pioneer of modern Armenian winemaking is Zorik Gharibian, the owner of Zorah Winery. In the meantime, his wines have become famous throughout the world, among other things, thanks to being a member of the Wine Mosaic organization that encourages and promotes cultivation and vinification of authentic grape varieties. Zorik was the first to visit Armenian villages, he knocked on the doors of each house and inquired where he could buy used karas amphorae. Thus, over time, he created a collection of 30 clay vessels called "karas" of different volumes which he started using to vinify wine in accordance with ancient Armenian tradition (marketed under the label Z Karasi Zorah). Zorah Winery produces its red wines aged in karas amphorae from autochthonous Armenian varieties found in old vineyards at an altitude ranging between 1400 and 1600 meters.

In 2016, Tierras de Armenia Winery (owned by an Argentinian tycoon of Armenian origins, Eduardo Eurnekian), which produces a line of wines labelled Karas, has launched court proceedings in Armenia against Zorah Winery in order to ban the use of traditional term "karas" because it may refer to their brand of KARAS wines (despite the name, those wines were not aged in karas amphorae). They did not take into account that karas is a generic traditional wine expression in Armenia and that the label of wines from Zorah winery puts focus on the name of Zorah Winery and visual symbol (letter Z) that occupy one third of the label, whilst the term "karasi" (meaning: from the karas) indicates only that the wine really aged in traditional karas vessels.

While we are waiting for the final solution of this case in court, we hope that the state of Armenia will react in order to protect its own wine-making tradition. It would be a pity that a rich winemaker can abuse centuries-long tradition of Armenia and prohibit further use of Armenian winemaking symbols, because karas for Amenia is what quevri stands for in Georgia. That's why we support Zorah winery to continue efforts to protect karas as an authentic Armenian tradition rather than a mere brand of a single contemporary winery. And Zorik Gharibian is ready to defend the Armenian tradition and karas amphoras, even if it means that he will have to seek justice in front of the European Court of Human Rights.

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