By Alexander Tagvoryan

YEREVAN, August 18–The grape harvest is expected to be of a very good quality this year, says the Chairman of the Union of Winemakers of Armenia Avak Harutyunyan.

This year’s harvest is going to be about 20-30 percent more than the last year’s. “Unlike the other crops, the grape harvest this year will be of very high quality,” Harutyunyan said.

He also noted that the viticulture is finally coming out of the crisis, and the Armenian winemakers and brandy producers will take their places at the markets again. As a result of the crisis, as Harutyunyan noted, brandy producers lost 80 percent of traditional markets, but 40 percent of them have been recovered lately.

“As a result of the crisis, the companies producing low-quality brandy disappeared from the market, and the other companies now provide more sales than ever before,” said Harutyunyan.

Harutyunyan also said that the grape prices are determined by the brandy factory. “If I am not wrong, the announced price for one kilogram of grapes is 130 dram. I guess the majority of grapes will cost 110-130 dram, and about 30 percent of grapes will be 90-110 dram per kilo,” he said.

Today, there are 16,500 hectares of vineyards in Armenia, and 90 percent of them are in the Ararat valley.

“Only 1,000 hectares of vineyards are suitable for vine production here. The remaining 14,000 are suitable for brandy production. There are 50 vine producing companies in here, and those 1,000 hectares aren’t enough for those companies,” said Harutyunyan.

Yerevan Report