Voskeni winemaking factory in Arax village of the Armavir Province of the Republic of Armenia was one of the participants of the May 5 opening ceremony of the exhibition-sale of products of Diaspora Armenian investors in Armenia’s industry sector. The exhibition was held at the initiative of the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia and with the support of Yerevan Municipality and the Development Foundation of Armenia at Yerevan Expo Center.

In an interview with Hayern Aysor, the factory’s winemaker Areg Khojoyan noted that the story behind the establishment of Voskeni was very interesting. The photo on the bottles of the company’s wines is the photo of Smbat Matevosya, who is the great-grandfather of the factory’s director Susanna Davoyan. Years ago, Matevosyan wanted to have vineyards in Armenia, help the Armenian winemaking industry grow and make Armenian wine popular around the world. In the 1920s, after living in Boston for 20 years, Matevosyan sold his properties and returned to Armenia. He established vineyards in Armavir region, but didn’t manage to make wine since he was exiled and lost everything in 1936.

In 2008, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Smbat Matevosyan, knowing that Matevosyan had vineyards in Armenia, traveled from the Russian Federation to Armenia, rediscovered the vineyards and established a company to fulfill Matevosyan’s dream.

The winemaker also said that the company’s white wine was made from the Voskehat and Garan Dmak types, while the red wine was made from the Areni and Khndoghni types. The wines are exported to the Russian Federation and Europe, and the company is currently holding talks to export its products to the USA.

Gevorg Chichyan