At the February 1945 Yalta Conference, Joseph Stalin served Winston Churchill 10-year-old Armenian Dvin brandy — a spirit first produced in 1943 and named for the ancient Armenian capital. Churchill did compliment Stalin on the brandy. The popular story that 400 bottles were shipped to Churchill annually after the war is almost certainly folklore: the Churchill Archives Centre holds no record of any such shipment. What is documented is a moment of diplomatic ritual around a glass of Armenian brandy that has since become Armenian legend.
2328Wine & Viticulture
