Areni-1 winery

The Areni-1 winery is the world’s oldest known winery, discovered in 2007 in the Areni-1 cave complex near the village of Areni in Vayots Dzor Province, Armenia. Excavated by a team of Armenian and international archaeologists, the winery dates to approximately 4100–4000 BC during the Late Chalcolithic period, making it at least 1,000 years older than the winery unearthed in the West Bank in 1963, previously the oldest known.^[1][2] The winery’s discovery provides critical insights into early viticulture, horticulture, and social complexity in the Near East.

The excavations were led by Boris Gasparyan of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, and co-directed by Ron Pinhasi (initially at University College Cork, Ireland, later University College Dublin) and Gregory Areshian of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. Initial funding came from the Gfoeller Foundation and University College Cork, with UCLA and the National Geographic Society joining as sponsors in 2008. Excavations were completed in 2010.^[3]

In 2008, the Areni-1 shoe, the world’s oldest known leather shoe (circa 3600–3500 BC), was also found in the same cave, highlighting the site’s exceptional preservation.^[4]