We love a good bucket list here at 2492, and there’s no shortage of things to do even in a small country like Armenia. Just when you think you’ve seen and done it all, there are always new experiences to be had. That’s especially true when it comes to food and wine.
Simply put: Armenians love food. They love to grow food, forage food, cook food, eat food, and they love to discuss food, even while eating it. Armenians may be the most opinionated people on the planet when it comes to how food should be prepared, served, and eaten.
That’s a good thing for you, because it means there are lots of foods you can not only try, but truly experience. This bucket list is dedicated to the best food and wine experiences every traveler must try when in Armenia.
Photo: Linda Hermans Photography
Dine in nature on a Wild Food Adventure
2023 Regenerative Travel Award recipient
Wild Food Adventures 3 course meals that combine pretty much everything that makes Armenia a magical place: stunning, untouched natural landscapes, menus specific to each location in the country where the experiences take place and prepared using only local and seasonal ingredients, and professional local chefs and hosts. Need we say more? These immersive dining experiences have been named "can't miss" by Forbes, featured in Food&Wine, and recently won a 2023 Regenerative Travel Award in the food and agriculture category for “revolutionizing our eating habits.” 2492 Travel currently hosts Wild Food Adventures in 7 different locations: Dilijan, Berd, Odzun, Marmashen, Yeranos, Areni vineyards, and Areni Cliffs.
Taste the best local wines on a Yerevan Winetrip
Rated 5/5 stars on Tripadvisor
This is a walking tour of Yerevan’s best wine bars, during which you’ll taste 13 top local wines and learn all there is to know about local grapes and winemaking practices, all from an expert wine guide, who will lead you on your tour. You’ll come away from the experience having visited four of Yerevan’s top rated wine bars, with a plethora of knowledge about wine in general and Armenian grapes and wines specifically, and probably with a little buzz.
Experience the first and only Armenian tea drinking ritual
Herbal tea is a ubiquitous part of local culture, yet there was no organized tea ritual in Armenia. So we built one with Darman Organic Herbal Tea and our nonprofit arm ONEArmenia! During your experience, which takes place high in the misty Miapor Mountains near the town of Berd in the Tavush province, where Darman sources their teas, you’ll create your own herbal tea blend, learning about how local people traditionally use herbs in everyday life. After tasting the tea, you’ll experience an aromatherapy session followed by basic meditation exercises.
Photo: Go2Armenia
Taste 10 experimental cheeses at Mikayelyan Family Farm
Lots of travelers go to Noratus village to see the world’s largestkhachkar cemetery, but few know that just outside the village, underground, is a modern cheese cellar. At the Mikayelyan Family Farm, you can taste up to 10 cheeses that they make right there at their underground facility using local ingredients, like local grape leaves, which they use to wrap one of their moldy cheeses, and Ararat Brandy, which they rub another one of their cheeses daily. These are arguably the best local cheeses made in Armenia, all experimental, all delicious.
Make honey wine at Alaverdi Honey Farm & Meadery
In the foothills of Alaverdi in Armenia’s north, you can quite literally immerse yourself in a bee farm, taking a masterclass on beekeeping, honey making, and honey wine making, aka mead. You can even spend the night and sleep on a bed frame that contains bees inside. The buzzing sound of bees is supposed to have relaxing, healing properties for a good night’s sleep. This experience was accelerated through our "Inside Armenia" project.
Explore the new Wine History Museum of Armenia
Located underneath the Armenia Wines winery in Aragatsotn and opened just recently in 2021, this museum boasts a large collection of wine related artifacts, including the oldest known grape seed ever discovered (over 8,000 years old) and even a traditional clay pot called a karas, inside which the remains of an ancient Armenian woman were found! While in the area, definitely go for a tasting at nearby wineries like Voskevaz, ArmAs, and Van Ardi.
Experience the best of small-scale winemaking at Momik Wines
Momik Wines is a boutique wine brand and tasting room our nonprofit arm ONEArmenia and their community made a reality through their Farm-To-Bottle project in 2018. Since its launch, the tasting experience there has received 5/5 star ratings from travelers, and today Momik is a self-sufficient family owned winery. That's the power of sustainable tourism! During your visit your can tour their vineyard, taste their red, white, and rosé wines while taking in gorgeous views of the cliffs above Areni village, pair your wines with a homemade meal, and even take a masterclass in traditional khachkar making, as one of your hosts, Narine, is one of the few female khachkar carving masters in Armenia.
Bake traditional sourdough bread at a village guesthouse
If you find yourself in the Shirak province, perhaps while traveling between Gyumri and Yerevan, make a stop at Vahanatun Guest House in the little village of Bagravan, where you can learn how to bake traditional Armenian sourdough bread using local whole wheat, for which the Shirak province is known. This experience is also the result of our "Inside Armenia" project.
Taste fine local fruit spirits in a forest distillery
Oghis are local spirits typically made from the fruit that grows naturally across the countryside. Plum, quince, apple, grape, fig, mulberry, pear, apricot, peach, even almonds are all used by local people to distill oghi. At home distillation is popular in villages to this day, and in the village of Aghavnavank, you can taste high quality fruit spirits at Dilvados, a production facility and tasting room located among the green, forested mountains of the Tavush Province. You can even pair your tasting experience with a local meal sourced from the forest.
