Ararat (brandy)
ArArAt Nairi, 20 years old | |
Founded | 1887 |
---|---|
Founder | Yerevan Brandy Company |
Headquarters | Yerevan, Armenia |
Products | Brandy |
Owner | Pernod Ricard |
Website |
www |
Ararat (stylized as ArArAt), is a brand of Armenian brandy (cognac-style) that has been produced by the Yerevan Brandy Company since 1887.[1] It is made from Armenian white grapes and spring water, according to a traditional method. The brand's "ordinary brandies" are aged between 3 and 6 years. Its "aged brandies" are between 10 and 30 years old.
Authors of a 2003 book wrote that it is "Undoubtedly the top of the tops of East European brandies."[2] Ararat brandy is primarily sold in countries of the former Soviet Union, chief among them Russia, Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus. In the Russian-speaking countries of the former Soviet Union, the Armenian brandy is marketed as cognac (Russian: армянский коньяк, tr. armjanskij konjak). In 1900, the brandy won the Grand-prix award in Paris.[3] The term "brandy" has never really caught on in the region.[1]
In politics
An undocumented anecdote claims that during the Yalta Conference, Winston Churchill was so impressed with the Armenian brandy Dvin given to him by Joseph Stalin[4] that he asked for several cases of it to be sent to him each year.[5][6][7] Reportedly 400 bottles of Dvin were shipped to Churchill annually.[3][8] This brandy was named in honour of the ancient capital Dvin, and was first produced in 1943.[8]
During a 2013 meeting at his personal villa in Sochi, Russian president Vladimir Putin gave British Prime Minister David Cameron a bottle of Armenian brandy as a gift, recalling Stalin's offering to Churchill in 1945.[9]
Brands
- ArArAt Erebuni, 30 years old.
- ArArAt Nairi, 20 years old.
- ArArAt, 3, 5 and 25 years old.
- ArArAt Tonakan, 15 years old.
- ArArAt Akhtamar, 10 years old.
- ArArAt Otborny, 7 years old.
- ArArAt Ani, 6 years old.
- ArArAt Dvin, collection.
- ArArAt Armenia, collection.
Retired brands include:
- ArArAt Vaspurakan, 15 years old.
- ArArAt Kilikia, 30 years old.
- ArArAt Sparapet, 40 years old.
- ArArAt Noah's Ark, 70 years old.
See also
References
- 1 2 Vladimir Gendlin (2003). "Armenia. The cognac republic". KommersantЪ. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
- ↑ Ermochkine, Nicholas; Iglikowski, Peter (2003). 40 Degrees East: An Anatomy of Vodka. Nova Publishers. p. 121. ISBN 9781590335949.
Undoubtedly the top of the tops of East European brandies is the Armenian brandy called Ararat...
- 1 2 Cigar Clan Magazine, In the Steps of Churchill, Volume I 2004 Archived December 26, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Dockter, Warren (2015). "How to drink like Winston Churchill". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
- ↑ Renton, Alex (7 July 2011). "Armenian brandy's Churchill boast". BBC News.
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/790774.stm Armenian brandy demands respect
- ↑ BBC: Spirited return for Armenian brandy, 8 June 2004
- 1 2 Prynn, Jonathan (23 March 2012). "First chance to buy brandy that Stalin served Churchill". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
Sir Winston Churchill's favourite Armenian brandy... The brandy, which was also a favourite of Agatha Christie and Frank Sinatra, has been made in the Ararat Valley since 1877.
- ↑ Parfitt, Tom (10 May 2013). "David Cameron says 'real progress' made with Vladimir Putin over Syria". The Telegraph.