red grape · regional staple
Haghtanak
Merdzavan, Armenia
Say it
hahkh·ta·nahk
The gh is not a g sound; it is the rough h of loch.
On the palate
cherryplumclovescoffeevanilla
How you spot it blind: red flesh and juice that give inky color and firm tannins
The story
First written down · 1977, Merdzavan, Armenia
Bred in 1977 at the Merdzavan viticulture center by P. K. Ayvazyan, it is a cross of Sorok Let Oktyabrya and Saperavi. It is cultivated mainly on the Ararat plain and has red pulp and juice.
Family tree: Sorok Let Oktyabrya × Saperavi
Where it lives
Ararat Province, Armenia · Armavir Province, Armenia · Aragatsotn Province, Armenia
Shows up as
still redrosésparklingsweetfortified