🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Armenians

The Armenians are an ancient people of the Armenian Highland in the South Caucasus. According to the 2022 census, Armenia has 2,932,731 inhabitants, 98.1% of them Armenians; millions more live outside Armenia, with no exact count. Everyday cuisine includes the sour milk matsun, alongside one of the oldest known wine traditions.

The Armenian language is a separate branch of the Indo-European family; the alphabet is traditionally credited to Mesrop Mashtots (405). UNESCO's intangible heritage list includes khachkars (2010), lavash (2014) and the art of Armenian letters (2019). The country is mountainous: 68.6% of its territory is farmland, and the highest mountain, Aragats, is 4,090 m.

Herding went together with crop farming: at the start of 2024 Armenia had 491,594 cattle, 690,565 sheep and 19,486 goats. Matsun is a thick sour milk shared by Armenia and Georgia; its microflora depends on the region and the kind of milk. Motal is made from goat's milk: the cheese is kept in brine for at least 40 days and then 35–50 days in clay pots.

In the Areni-1 cave traces of winemaking from about 4000 BC were found, the oldest known winery. Today vineyards cover 15,574 ha, and in 2023 2,134,255 centners of grapes were harvested. The clay vessel karas for wine is part of the same tradition.

Why it matters to you. Matsun and matsoni on labels are not always the same thing: it is a shared name, and the properties depend on the milk and the starter. Motal is a goat's cheese, not a sheep's cheese. It is better to call Areni-1 the oldest known winery to date rather than “the world's oldest winery”.