Food & Wine USA - (02)February 2020

FEBRUARY 2020 57

EVEN IF YOU’RE NOT AN AFICIONADO of Middle Eastern wines, you

may have heard of Chateau Musar. Renowned for its opulent,

Bordeaux-style red blends, this winery (and its charismatic

owner Serge Hochar) put Lebanese wine on the map in the

1970s. For a long time, Musar was a lone success. However,

since the mid-2000s, new winemakers have started to emerge

who are set on creating a style they feel is more “Lebanese,” less

driven by a European-influenced sensibility. By using different

grape varieties, techniques, and, in some ways, a lighter stylistic

touch, they are creating wines with an emphatic sense of place.

Many of these new talents are based in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

Wide and rugged, with a horizon that disappears in a blue haze,

this vast plateau was first planted with vines more than 5,000

years ago. One rising star here is Faouzi Issa, the 35-year-old

boss of Domaine des Tourelles. Outspoken, mischievous, and

smart, this Château Margaux–trained winemaker believes the

future of Lebanese wine lies not with Cabernet, but with the

more workaday grape Cinsaut.

“The French call it piss en vin!” he says gleefully. “But here it is

proving that the Bekaa Valley is diamond terroir!” His 60-year-

old bush vines sprawl messily over the rocks, but the wines they

produce are precise: Their floral, slightly spicy Cinsauts taste

like Pinot Noir reimagined for the Middle East.

Other producers are championing native varietals, such as

Merwah and Obaideh. Château Ksara launched its first 100%

Merwah in 2017, a single-vineyard white with gentle notes of

citrus and melon. Château Kefraya has gone further, testing a

dozen native grapes including Assali el Arous, Inab el Mir, and

Assouad Karech, as well as aging the wines in amphorae in a

nod to the grapes’ Phoenician heritage.

In the north of the country, the proudly Lebanese IXSIR

(named after the Arabic for “elixir”) is also making its mark.

Housed in a beautifully restored, 400-year-old limestone dwell-

ing, this state-of-the-art winery riffs on terroirs from all over

Lebanon. (They also have an excellent restaurant.)

It’s hard to discuss wine in Lebanon without eventually talk-

ing about war—everyone you meet has some kind of hair-raising

tale to tell, and the conflict in Syria, which borders the country

to the north and east, looms large. For every field planted with

vines or vegetables in the Bekaa Valley, there is another dotted

with refugee camps.

Brothers Sandro and Karim Saadé are the duo behind the

Bekaa Valley’s Château Marsyas, but they also own Syria’s only

working winery, Domaine Bargylus, which they’ve continued

to run, remotely, straight through the conflict.

And despite Lebanon’s volatility, people still choose to return.

Twenty years ago, Naji and Jill Boutros swapped their comfort-

able setup in London, where Naji was an investment banker,

for a new life making wine in Bhamdoun, the small mountain

village where he grew up. Today, Chateau Belle-Vue supplies

its sensual reds to Michelin-starred restaurants in London and

Chicago. And it has breathed new life into a community deci-

mated by war.

“It’s a massive responsibility,” says Jill. “We’re well aware

that our success represents the viability of the village, though

honestly, we’d be doing this even if the wines were just OK.”

Fortunately for all of us, they are a great deal better than that.

The New Lebanon

2017 IXSIR ALTITUDES

ROSÉ ($13)

One of Lebanon’s stron-

gest hands is rosé, and

this blend of Cinsaut,

Syrah, and Caladoc is

particularly classy: citrusy

and fresh with a touch of

saltiness on the finish.

2017 CHÂTEAU KSARA

MERWAH ($17)

Made from a single plot

of 66-year-old Merwah

vines, this easy-drinking

white is bright, fruity, and

soft. It’s one to stick in

the ice bucket on a hot

summer’s day (or even a

frosty winter evening).

2016 DOMAINE DES

TOURELLES VIEILLES

VIGNES CINSAULT ($22)

Rosewater, fig, and tart

damsons define this

exotic wine. It just gets

better with every vintage.

opposite: A

400-year-old

traditional stone

home houses

IXSIR winery.

left: Winemaker

Faouzi Issa at

Domaine des

Tourelles

below: A

courtyard at

IXSIR winery

2015 CHÂTEAU

MARSYAS ($43)

This big, luxurious Cab-

ernet blend is designed

to go the distance in

terms of aging. Marsyas’

second wine, B-Q ̄a, is a

more approachable take

on the same idea.

2010 CHATEAU

BELLE-VUE LE

CHATEAU ($60)

Cold nights and hot

days give the tannins

wonderful polish in this

aromatic, intense

Cabernet Franc–Syrah

blend from the Mount

Lebanon appellation.

Alice Lascelles writes
about drinks and is a
contributing editor for
the Financial Times in
PHOTOGRAPHY (CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE): DIALA SHUHAIBER/FRAMEWITHAVIEW, COURTESY DOMAINE DES TOURELLES, VINNIE VOLKERIJK London.