Discovering the World's Oldest Winery

Sidedoor host Tony Cohn gets the opportunity of a lifetime: fly to Armenia and crawl into a deep, dark cave in search of long-lost wine. But we’re not talking just any ol’ cabernet or sauvignon blanc: these 6,000-year-old wine remnants are evidence of the world's oldest winery. In this episode we ask, what can this ancient winery tell us about the earliest days of civilization, and could a thirst for wine be the reason why some ancient humans left behind their nomadic ways and settled down?

Explore the inspiring international work funded by USAID and implemented by the Smithsonian through the My Armenia program. The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage will feature Armenia in this summer’s Folklife Festival on the National Mall! Smithsonian is preserving, researching, and sharing Armenia’s cultural heritage, but that’s only the beginning of our global impact. Check out Smithsonian Global’s webpage to discover science, art, history, and culture stories from every continent. Do you want to see more of Tony’s travels to Armenia? Peak at the photo-blog post he wrote about his amazing adventure abroad. And don’t worry—we’ve got more on the Areni-1 cave and Armenian wine as well!