Page 10 - Code de Vino, # 16/22, s/s 2018

Code de Vino #16 Vahe Keushguerian — Armenia’s Wine President 10
— Were the waiters there Italians? I was very romantic back then: I loved those mountains, the
cypress trees, Tuscany... I knew I had to be there!
— No, Americans. It was during the Renaissance of
American restaurants, with new American cuisine, the slow I wanted to live out my dream! I didn’t want to live in San
food movement, and the rise of Alice Waters with her Chez Francisco and dream of Tuscany — I wanted to live in
Panisse, which opened one kilometer away from us, plus Tuscany!
many other restaurants, like Santa Fe Bar&Grill.

So I learned a lot about this business and wanted to go — And be closer to the Etruscans...
beyond and do something new, so I went into the wine
business. I purchased a small wine importing company, — Yes, in Florence... But I must say this was a sort of
and we started bringing in French and Italian wines, but recession period for wine. I was a broker, an agent, and
mostly Italian. I was shipping in a lot of famous Italian wines. I sold Italian wines to America, but I was dreaming of
I mean, they are famous now, but back then no one knew creating wine myself. Back in those days, the production of
what they were about. Wines from Piedmont, Tuscany, wine and grape was very low. It was a low period for Italian
Brunello, and other places. wines, and Italian wine and grape were incredibly cheap.

Next to my house there were 20 ha of Chianti, and if you
— Did you pick out these wines yourself? were a farmer, the price of the grape was lower than your
expenses. And the owner told me: “If you want to be a
— Yes, I traveled across Piedmont and other regions. Then farmer, I’ll let you do it for free.” So I got into a free-of-
I flew back to California and brought the wines with me, charge lease. I built a small winery that later grew into a
presented and spoke about them and on winemaking... I plant, and began making different wines like Chianti, Merlot,
was so enthusiastic and inspired. In those days, there was and Chardonnay.
no Gambero Rosso by Stefano Bonilli, the man who opened
up multiple wine producers to the world. Many of the wines I
was buying later became popular. In 1994, I moved to Italy, — What an interesting road you’ve taken — from
turning it into a part of my life, an adventure in and of itself. a waiter and restaurateur through a sommelier, all

Vahe Keushguerian and Arsen Kharatean (expert CDV on the Armenian context)