AFP reports on Lebanon's wine industry:
Related Posts:In the heart of the Bekaa Valley, a few miles from a temple dedicated to Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, Lebanon's vineyards are in full bloom as the country edges into the global wine market....
"After European wine and new world wine, the wine of the so-called old world is emerging" as a market favourite, explains Ramzi Ghosn of the Massaya winery.
"And Lebanon, with its culinary and viniculture traditions, is playing an avant-garde role in the region."
Along with his brother, Ghosn is leading a new wave of Lebanese wines, using French grape varieties Merlot, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Syrah and Chardonnay, into the global market.
From a mere five wineries in 1998, he says, the tiny Mediterranean country now boasts more than 30 labels.
Most of them are small or medium-sized establishments banking on quality to set them apart, and some have already landed awards in international fairs and are now featured on the wine lists of Paris and London.
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"It's a niche market, so small that it piques people's curiosity," according to brothers Karim and Sandro Saade, who launched the Marsyas line in 2005 with the help of world-renowned wine guru Stephane Derenoncourt, a consultant for several prominent clients including film and winemaker Francis Ford Coppola.
"The future of Lebanon's wine lies in small wineries," Sandro Saade said.
"The fact that a country is famed for having produced wine since antiquity ... is attractive to consumers and that is a major factor in relaunching these projects," Derencourt told AFP.
The Bekaa Valley, a fertile region in eastern Lebanon, is blessed with the ideal climate for wine production. At 900 metres (2,952 feet) above sea level, it is rich in chalky soil, rain, and long, hot summers.
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"The taste of the land should overpower that of a standard Merlot or Syrah," Sandro said.
Khoury stands apart with his "organic" cellars which are located on a hill overlooking the city of Zahle, where legend has it that Noah, named in the Bible as the first winemaker, is buried.
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"It was hard," Khoury told AFP. "But today we export 40 percent of our production."
Around 15 percent of Lebanon's wine -- which brings in annual revenues estimated at around 30 million dollars (23.4 million euros) -- is exported, mainly to France and England.
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Carlos Ghosn, the French CEO of carmakers Nissan and Renault who is of Lebanese origin, created a stir this spring when he launched his Ixsir wine, the latest label from his Wines of Lebanon winery.
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Back in the Bekaa, tourists flocking to the famed Roman temples of Baalbek are increasingly stopping by local cellars for a wine-tasting tryst, and the Saade brothers plan to build Lebanon's first wine museum.
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