ArArAt Brandy Palace and Aging Vaults

Why is it significant?

Before you stands the monumental palace of the Yerevan Brandy Company, home of the world-famous ArArAt brand.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Before you stands the monumental palace of the Yerevan Brandy Company, home of the world-famous ArArAt brand. When the historic Shustov enterprise was divided during Soviet industrial reorganization, this grand neoclassical production complex was constructed in 1953 atop the western bluffs overlooking the Hrazdan gorge. Master architect Hovhannes Margaryan designed the imposing facade using warm salmon-pink volcanic tufa, featuring a monumental nine-arch loggia crowned by a classical cornice that recalls ancient Roman palaces.

Here worked the legendary Armenian master blender Markar Sedrakyan, who served as chief technologist from 1940 until 1973. Sedrakyan possessed an extraordinary palate, formulating iconic blends that defined twentieth-century Soviet luxury spirits, including Yubileyny, Dvin, Armenia, and Nairi. In 1945, at the historic Yalta Conference, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin offered British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a glass of Sedrakyan's fifty-degree Dvin brandy; Churchill fell so deeply in love with the spirit that Stalin sent him four hundred bottles every year thereafter.

In the company's aging cellars lies the historic 'Peace Barrel,' filled in 2001 on the occasion of the official visit of the Minsk Group co-chairs. By company charter, this symbolic barrel of vintage brandy will only be unsealed and enjoyed when the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is finally and permanently resolved in peace. World leaders, foreign ambassadors, and visiting dignitaries have signed their names in golden ink upon its oak staves.

The monumental presence of the ArArAt palace, silhouetted against the open sky above the gorge, exudes timeless dignity and national pride. The museum inside offers an inspiring journey through the art, chemistry, and sensory poetry of Armenian distillation. The graceful salmon-colored colonnade and expansive courtyard embody the pride of Armenian distillation, welcoming international dignitaries and travelers who come to admire the living traditions of the world's premier Caucasian brandy house.

Walk north along the cliffside road to the open panoramic terrace honoring Admiral Hovhannes Isakov.