Areni-1 winery

Areni-1 winery is an archaeological site in Vayots Dzor Province near the village of Areni, Armenia, notable for remains of an early winemaking facility dated to the late 5th to early 4th millennium BCE. The site includes a cave complex where presses, fermentation and storage features were documented.

The cave complex produced pottery, wine-processing installations, plant remains consistent with grape processing, and other organic material. Finds from Areni-1 have been radiocarbon-dated and are cited in discussions of early viticulture and food processing in the Caucasus region.

Excavations were conducted by archaeological teams in the 2000s and documented both the wine-related installations and additional artifacts such as a well-preserved leather shoe. The site is located in southern Vayots Dzor Province near the modern village of Areni, within a mountainous landscape of vineyards and river valleys.

• Early winemaking date: Radiocarbon dating places the winery remains at roughly 4100 BCE, making it one of the oldest known sites with evidence for organized wine production.
• Modern excavations: Excavations in and around 2007-2010 recovered the winemaking installation, storage vessels and an exceptionally well-preserved leather shoe among other finds.

What to See #

• Areni-1 cave (winery installation): A karst cave in Vayots Dzor Province that contains a preserved early winemaking installation with a clay-lined fermentation basin, winepress elements and storage jars; archaeologically dated to the late 5th to early 4th millennium BCE.
• Archaeological deposits (shoe and remains): An archaeological deposit within the cave that produced human remains and a leather shoe described among the oldest known leather footwear, recovered during excavations in the late 2000s.