2022 Yacoubian-Hobbs Sarpina Areni Noir Vayots Dzor 6pk 6x750ml

Armenia is the birthplace of wine — not figuratively, but literally. The Areni-1 cave, sitting a stone's throw from these vineyards, holds the oldest known winery on Earth, dating back over 6,000 years. In the high-altitude province of Vayots Dzor, where volcanic and limestone soils meet thin mountain air, the indigenous Areni Noir grape has been cultivated since before recorded history — and nowhere is it being reimagined more thrillingly than here.

That reimagining is the work of Yacoubian-Hobbs, a joint venture between the Yacoubian family and internationally acclaimed winemaker Paul Hobbs, established in 2008. Several times a year, Hobbs travels to Vayots Dzor to personally oversee farming and winemaking at the estate's vineyard near Aghavnadzor, planted at 4,600 feet. The mission is bigger than one wine: Paul and the Yacoubians are on a mission to prove Armenia belongs among the world's great wine regions — not as a curiosity, but as a serious contender.

The 'Sarpina' is their most ambitious statement yet. Selected from the finest parcels of the high-elevation Rind vineyard — over 1,300 meters up — this is 100% Areni Noir, aged in French oak to layer structure and depth onto the grape's naturally bright, spice-laced character. The name itself is a tribute to Armenian viticultural history: "sarpina" refers to the traditional posts used to train vines, recorded in the country's ancient agricultural texts. Every bottle is a small-production, limited-release expression — this is not a wine made at scale, it's a wine made with intention.