A taste of Azerbaijani wine

For the first-time visitor, Azerbaijan abounds in surprising discoveries — and few are as unexpected as the booming wine industry, with its selection of grapes, fascinating history and undulating seas of emerald-green vineyards backed by white-topped peaks.

Wine has been produced in this part of the world for millennia. The earliest evidence of grape winemaking comes in the form of pottery jars containing residual wine compounds, dating back to around 6000 BC. They were discovered in the villages of Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris Gora, then part of the Shulaveri-Shomu culture, which occupied territory