Wine & Viticulture

The karas is Armenia's ancient clay fermentation vessel, a terracotta amphora traditionally buried three-quarters underground to harness the earth's stable temperature for slow, even aging. For millennia, Armenian winemakers used karases sealed with beeswax to ferment, age, and store wine — the same technique documented in the Urartian fortress of Teishebaini near Yerevan, where archaeologists found a wine storehouse holding 480 karases with a combined capacity of 37,000 decalitres.

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