Chilar 2020 – Zorah
Fruity & Aromatic
Pale lemon in colour, despite the skin contact, this wine is beautifully balanced and textural. The nose boasts fresh pear and white peach aromas, with subtle notes of fennel. There is a harmonious depth to the palate, with flavours of citrus on the long finish.
Availability: 36 in stock
£61.59
Availability: 36 in stock
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Characteristics & Details
About this wine
To produce the Chilar Zorah the hand-picked grapes underwent fermentation, with around 60 days skin contact, in old, large traditional Armenian clay amphorae, known as Karasi. Only natural yeasts were used during the fermentation process. The wine then aged in amphorae for around 9 months before being gently filtered and bottled, where it continued to age for a further 10 months prior to release.
Zorah has 15 hectares of vineyards, surrounded by mountains, at 1,400 metres above sea level and only a little over a kilometre from a 6,100 year old winery. The vineyards are situated in the small rural village of Rind, in the heart of Vayotz Dzor. Long dry summers with plenty of sunlight and high daytime temperatures that contrast with cool nights encourage a lengthy growing season. The phylloxera-free soils are rocky and rich in limestone, helping maintain moisture for the vines during the intense summer heat. With no vineyards dedicated solely to Chilar, the grapes are sourced from 30 to 40-year-old vines that are planted among the other varieties on the estate.
Zorik Gharibian planted six hectares of the native Areni grape variety in the Yeghegnadzor Valley in south-eastern Armenia in 2006, under the guidance of Italian viticulturalist Stefano Bartolomei. The vineyard is situated at an altitude of 1,370 metres, close to Mount Ararat and two kilometres from what archaeologists say is one of the oldest wineries in the world, dating back 6,100 years. Because of the area’s isolation, the vines are ungrafted, as phylloxera has never reached this part of Armenia. The wines are made under the guidance of Alberto Antonini. “I was struck by the superb conditions when I first visited the area”, says Alberto. “The altitude gives cool nights and a long growing season, so we don‘t harvest until the end of October. It is very dry with intense sunlight and stony, low-vigour soils. It is one of the most exciting projects I’ve ever been involved with.”
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