Lebanese wine, quality at high altitude

You might not think so, but Lebanon is one of the oldest wine countries in the world. Wine has been made there for 5,000 years. And to this day. Especially from French grape varieties. They grow on the slopes of the Bekaa Valley, an ideal place to grow grapes. Lebanese winemaking has been modernized in recent years and Lebanon has built up a good reputation worldwide.

Libanon, the best wines

Vine growing was probably brought to Lebanon from the east, near Georgia, and only introduced to Europe much later. It is certain that Lebanon was already an important wine region around the beginning of the Christian era. In the Middle Ages, Lebanese wine was also exported to many corners of Europe.

The Lebanese Bekaa Valley

The vineyards are located on the rolling slopes of the Bekaa Valley up to an altitude of about 1,000 metres. An ideal location. It is dry, but with just enough rain. The sun shines abundantly, but the Mediterranean Sea offers cooling. At night it can cool down considerably, which is very favourable for the ripening of the grapes. Winemakers hardly need to use pesticides in these conditions and the vines do not need to be lifted.

French grape varieties dominate in Lebanon

Although Lebanon has some indigenous varieties such as Obaideh and Merwah, it is mainly French grapes that you find in the Bekaa Valley. There is a reason for this: at the beginning of the last century, Lebanon was a French protectorate. The French planted many of their own varieties at the time. There are still relatively many French people active in Lebanese wine growing. For red wines, they mainly use Cinsault, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Carignan and Alicante Bouschet. For white, Chardonnay, Clairette, Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc are important varieties.

The most important Lebanese wineries

Lebanese wine growing is dominated by three large wineries. The oldest is Château Ksara, founded in 1857 by Jesuits. Château Kefraya is the second and internationally the best known is Château Musar, which achieved surprising results at European tastings in the 1970s and 1980s, but seems to have lost some of its quality since the turn of the century. In addition to these three large houses, a large number of small wineries are active. Together they produce around 2 million bottles per year. At least when circumstances permit, because political problems in the region unfortunately sometimes make harvesting impossible.