The host of Sidedoor, the Smithsonian’s podcast, Tony Cohn fell in love with Armenia after visiting the country to report a story on wine cultural heritage.

Here’s what Cohn learned before the trip: in 2007, the oldest known evidence of winemaking was discovered in the Areni-1 cave complex. It’s this very site in southern Armenia that has had a major impact on how archeologists understand humanity’s earliest civilizations.

While in country, he received a site tour from the scientist who discovered the centuries-old artifacts and interviewed him about the impact the excavation has had.

After the journey, that lasted just over forty-eight hours, instead of writing some poetic entry about the life-changing experience he had in Armenia, the author reveals photos of the various things he witnessed and experienced in Armenia, like the Vernissage open-air market in downtown Yerevan, the winemaking process, the oldest winery in the world and much more.

“I’ll do you a favor and cut to the chase: I fell in love with Armenia,” he says.

“The people are incredibly kind, the scenery ever-changing, the food carb-olicious and fresh, and the weather sunny and mild. The wine is as good as any I’ve ever tasted, with a history that can’t be beat (but it can be drunk!).”

The 2018 Smithsonian Folklife Festival inviting everyone to experience human towers with the Catalans, Armenian craft and cooking demonstrations, traditional-meets-contemporary styles from around the African continent, and much more. Cooks and winemakers will share their experiences with traditional recipes and the ways in which food- and wine-related enterprises have shaped their cultural identity and created a pathway for exchange—both within Armenia’s boundaries and across Diaspora communities.