Image: Wine with Margaret
A wine I probably wasn’t supposed to come across since there haven’t been that many bottles made, and yet I am blessed to be given a second chance in tasting one of the most incredible wines out there. Molana is the most dangerous wine in the world, a wine that can hardly described by words, it is a true discovery. My first taste of this wine was when I was in Armenia where Aimee Keushguerian from Wine Works presented the wine at In Vino Winebar in Yerevan City.
Image: Wine with Margaret
WineWorks Armenia
Wineworks is a creative team that is aiming to develop and promote the Armenian wine industry, their mission? To work together with both farmers and producers that together they can contribute to the growth of Armenia’s wine industry. In the beginning of Wineworks it was a consulting company that now operates as a winery incubator so to speak. It offers winemaking and viticultural services to those that can use or want help in developing their own. They also help in strategic planning and marketing management support. Vahe Keushguerian founded the company in 2011 after working in the wine industry in the US and Italy previously. Vahe is Aimees father.
Image: Somm
Cup Of Salvation
When are you going to tell us about Molana? Supposingly the most dangerous wine in the world! Yes, I will get there, but firstly I want to share with you something else. You’ve probably have heard of the “Somm Films”, well there has been a documentary created on the story of Aimee and Vahe Keushguerian. The movie is called “Cup of Salvation”, this documentary gives you the insights in winemaking practices during dangerous times, where war could break at any time, war already present and lurking around the corner ready to attack those that aren’t supposed to be where they are.
Working in the Armenian wine industry isn’t without any danger. Working the vineyards, harvesting the grapes with bullet proof vests in order to stay alive. While making sure that all the hard work that was put in the vineyards over the season isn’t lost because of the war waiting to strike. Decisions were made to harvest the grapes no matter what, so it doesn’t gets lost in translation.
In the movie Vahe has a clear vision, making a wine, bringing back ancient history, of grapes that were grown in Iran, just over the border from Armenia. And so off he went, hopped on a plane to Iran in search of those that grow grapes and want to sell it to them. Grapes that, where smuggled into Armenia to make Molana, a wine made in Exile. Smuggling grapes wasn’t without any risks, there could be some serious jail time in it when caught.
Image: Keushguerian – created by Wine with Margaret
Molana: A Liquid Love Letter to Ancient Vines and Audacious Dreams
Let’s get one thing straight: Molana isn’t just a wine brand. It’s a full-blown spiritual detour dressed up as a bottle of red. It’s what happens when millennia of Persian poetry, volcanic soil, and the sheer stubborn magic come together for a drink.
Here’s the twist—for forty years, winemaking in Iran basically flatlined. Poof. Gone. Modern wines? Non-existent. Imagine a blank canvas stretched across the cradle of civilization, just begging for a splash of fermented defiance. But dig a little deeper into the soil (both literal and cultural), and you’ll hit something glorious: Iran’s ancient viticultural roots, tangled beautifully with its neighbour, Armenia. That’s right—before Bordeaux had barrels, Persia had Rasheh. An ancient red grape variety.
“Bring the pure wine of love and freedom. But sir, a tornado is coming. More wine, we’ll teach this storm a thing or two about whirling.” — Rumi, forever ‘spitting facts’ with Molana, they are not just bottling fermented grapes — they are bottling a true legacy.
Rumi, wasn’t just a poet. He was a spiritual flamethrower with a feather pen. His poetry slices through time, space, and all the crap that keeps humans apart. Peace, unity, transcendence—he wrote it, Molana is the wine that represents just that!
Like Rumi’s verses, Molana doesn’t just dance—it whirls. It pirouettes across the palate with flavours as bold as his metaphors. Every bottle is a nod to his radical wisdom, his cosmic swagger, and that little voice inside all of us whispering, “Pour me another glass.”
Image: Keushguerian
The Vineyards: Where Grit Meets Grapes
Hidden among Persia’s rugged hills and sun-kissed valleys, you’ll find a wild, unruly beauty—the vineyards of Iran. From Shiraz (yes, the place and the grape) to Isfahan, these lands have been cultivating wine grapes longer than most countries have had flags.
Enter Kerman and Kashan, where arid heat kisses volcanic soil, and the result is grapes so flavourful they practically write poetry themselves. Whether it’s a gutsy Syrah or a whispering Riesling, each sip tells the story of generations of vintners who made wine when it was risky, radical, or downright illegal. Rebels with vines, if you will. And I like it!
“You’ve gotten drunk on so many kinds of wine. Taste this. It won’t make you wild. It’s fire.” — Rumi again, now moonlighting as a sommelier and boy he is right in so many ways.
Molana Rasheh 2021: A Wine That Shouldn’t Exist…
… if it wasn’t for Vahe’s perseverance in accomplishing this dream and just going for it. Let’s talk about Molana Rasheh 2021, the grapes that had to be smuggled out of Iran like it was a secret scroll from the Library of Alexandria. This is not hyperbole—the grapes were grown in Sardasht County (Iranian Kurdistan), in high-altitude vineyards (1,480m) that cling to volcanic hillsides like ancient monks meditating in the clouds. Watch the movie to see how this all went down. I promise you it is worth the watch.
The grape? Rasheh—an ancient varietal that predates your entire family tree. It’s survived empires, revolutions, and climate tantrums. Today, it thrives in small, steep plots only accessible by foot. Because—this grape doesn’t do easy, which makes it all the more valuable to drink this wine.
Vinified in Armenia by Vahe Keushguerian, a winemaker with nerves of steel and a poetic soul, this is the first wine made from Iranian grapes in nearly 50 years. Only 12,000 bottles exist, which is wine-world speak for: blink and you’ll miss it.
This wine is playful, elegant, and has the kind of terroir-driven authenticity that makes wine nerds weep. Pale red colour, an incredibly well-balanced wine, light red fruit characteristics, cherries, cranberries, spices. That lively crisp medium+ acidity, medium + soft well integrated ripe tannins. The high alcohol is so well integrated that it is hardly detectable and a medium+ body with an incredible texture, and such a length. It doesn’t just taste good—it tastes like resurrection.
Wine Specs (for the geeks, like me, bless you)
- Vintage: 2021
- Producer: Vahe Keushguerian
- Region: Sardasht, Iranian Kurdistan
- Soil: Volcanic
- Elevation: 1,480 M
- Variety: Rasheh, 50-60 year old vines
- Alcohol: 14.5%
- Vinification: Native yeast, 40-day maceration, zero shortcuts
- Production: 12,000 bottles (aka collector’s item)
Molana is a toast to forbidden roots, poetic rebellion, and a future that tastes better when it remembers the past. It’s serious wine—but never too serious to swirl, sip, and sigh, even when you are sipping from history, since it probably will be the only vintage of Molana that will ever be made.
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