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In the last 15 years, many Armenian female wine professionals have returned home after years abroad in Europe and the United States. Once a male-dominated industry, women now fill various roles in more than 100 Armenian wineries across five regions.
Part of this growth is due to increased educational opportunities.
Since the 1930s, the Armenian National Agrarian University has trained wine specialists, but women were largely underrepresented. In its class of 2000, for instance, just 20% of graduates were women.
In 2014, EVN Wine Academy launched courses to engage female students. It offered night classes for the enology and wine business program to address a need for professional development.
Taught in English, the program became more attractive to women who could work during the day and dive into a new vocation at night.
Mariam Saghatelyan, a graduate and now a teacher at EVN, says the program especially resonates with women because one of its founders is a female winemaker.
