A true pioneer, the first to believe in the potential of Armenia’s wine on a world stage and determined to put Armenia on a very high level from the very start, for over a decade Zorik, together with his wife Yeraz, focused on reviving the dormant wine industry of the country.

He started planting and teaching locals how to work the vineyards while at the same time instilling the idea to the people that Armenia could produce, not only excellent wines, but also unique wines from its native grape varieties debunking the general mind-set of winegrowers at the time that Armenia should follow the path of international varietals.

A diasporan Armenian, who grew up in Italy and turned his back on a successful career in fashion in order to return to his ancestral homeland, Gharibian has played a pivotal role in helping shape and influence the evolution of the country’s wine industry.
With ZORAH he has set the standards and shown others the huge potential of Armenian wine on a world stage and in so doing has helped open the doors to a wave of new investments in the country.

Wine was a constant feature in my formative years, both because of ZORAH and my upbringing in Italy. I was always interested in a wine which, to me, is much more than a pleasant drink. To me wine is an ambassador through which one can discover, experience and learn about distant territories, cultures and traditions.

It was this interest which pushed me to undertake the WSET exams and later enroll in a master’s degree in agronomy and enology at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.
Contributing to the development of wines from native grapes, placing importance on tradition and respecting the terroir to produce wines which are proudly Armenian is what motivates me.

This coupled with the incredible growth in the wine sector that ZORAH has initiated in Armenia and the incredible opportunities for local development which this budding industry can bring to the region is incredibly inspirational and encourages me every day to help build, with my family, this incredible project.

One of the world’s foremost winemaking consultants, the soft spoken, Tuscan-born Antonini, whose credits include senior winemaker at Antinori and Frescobaldi in Tuscany as well as being recognized as one of the pioneering figures of Argentinian Malbec, has been together with ZORAH since the very beginning.
When he visited Armenia for the very first time in 2003 Antonini was struck not only by the superb conditions of the area but also of the country’s ancient wine making history and its treasure trove of native grapes.

The first oenologist of international reputation to believe in the potential of Armenia’s terroir and its indigenous varieties, which he has strongly championed from the very start, as well as the country’s traditional aging methods in amphorae known locally as karas, Antonini’s winemaking philosophy at ZORAH has been a very natural ‘hands off’ approach, a very much ‘less is more’ concept in order not to affect the expression of Place.

“It is important” he wrote “that these wonderful countries steeped in history, tradition and with a great potential for quality, can one day have a central role in world wine culture, breaking the colonization of the Bordeaux model that has standardized all the wine regions with Cabernet-Merlot etc. individuality and authenticity are vital.”
Alberto Antonini’s creativity, sensibility and deep respect for Armenia, its history and its terroir and his conviction that the wines must consult the genius of place, has resulted in the creation of wines full of energy, purity and vitality; wines that matter and excite and offer far sighted vistas into the great future of these areas; wines, which have very much tempted others to follow in ZORAH’S footsteps.

“When I first visited Armenia I was fascinated by this terroir, its history, its isolation and the country’s indigenous varieties which seemed to have been abandoned by the world.” Comments Bartolomei. “It was certainly clear that this was going to be an ambitious project, the challenge of turning great potential into great wines!”

With the aim of making wines which had to be an expression of the land, the vineyards and the culture of place, Zorik and Stefano in the early years, scoured the mountainous valleys of Vayots Dzor in search of castaway native varieties. Working on a meticulous field selection which took years, together they propagated new vines from previously surviving cuttings and eventually planting the mosaic vineyards of ZORAH.

The ‘less is more’ concept which has also been adopted by Bartolomei is also evident in the vineyards of ZORAH where natural and sustainable practices have been favoured.
“In wine it’s all about the vineyard and the least amount of intervention is paramount. You have to bring the vineyard into the cellar.” he says “You have to allow the vineyard to be what IT wants to be and not what YOU want IT to be if you are to produce unique wines with a true sense of place!”
Stefano has been with ZORAH from the very beginning.