Karas, Amavir (Ararat Valley, Armenia) Areni – Sireni Reserve 2023 ($23, Vias)

The wine is a blend of two indigenous grapes – 60% Sireni and 40% Areni – from this county east of Turkey and west of the Caspian Sea that has a long winemaking tradition. The wine itself comes from grapes grown at the foot of Mt. Ararat and could easily be mistaken as a middle-of-the-road Bordeaux-style blend from, say, Sonoma County – enjoyable though not complex creamy blackberry flavors, medium body, light tannins, long on the palate. It perhaps would be a welcome surprise to drinkers just tasting Armenia wines because it has no regional rusticity, and a disappointment to others seeking a new experience for the same reasons.
89 Roger Morris