🍷 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. The winery's discovery provides critical insights into early viticulture, horticulture, and social complexity in the Near East.