Lebanese vineyards reap the fruits of letting wine make itself, Lebanese wine, Lebanon wineries
Date: Friday, April 18, 2014
By: -
Source: The Daily Star
Editor’s note: Stephen Quinn
travels the world for his weekly wine column and hopes to convey the
magic of the grape in ways that anyone can understand. The Daily Star
will be publishing Quinn’s columns, beginning with his visit to Lebanon courtesy of HORECA.
KSARA, Lebanon: Chateau Ksara is the oldest continuous winemaking operation in Lebanon. Jesuit priests founded Ksara in 1857, and this religious and teaching order continued to make wine until 1973, when a local consortium purchased the estate.
Ksara has the largest output of any Lebanese vineyard, producing almost 3 million bottles a year. It exports about 40 percent of that total, higher than the national export average of about 30 percent.
The chateau has the largest area of natural caves of any vineyard in Lebanon. The caves are about 8-12 meters below ground, and are natural refrigerators. They maintain a constant temperature of between 11-13 degrees all year round, with 80 percent humidity. A fungus grows in the humidity that helps to preserve wine.
James Palge has been one of Ksara’s winemakers since 1994 after arriving from France. He is also the technical director.
A highlight of my visit occurred when Palge opened a 1942 white made by the Jesuits. The bottle was covered in fungus that needed to be removed before the wine was presented. It was a majestic sweet wine, smelling and tasting of coffee and walnuts, and could almost be described as a spiritual experience.
Ksara is served on Middle East Airlines, and I enjoyed my first taste of their 2012 Blanc de Blancs on my flight to Beirut. It is a blend of 50 percent sauvignon blanc, 30 percent semillon and 20 percent chardonnay, and is the best-selling white in Lebanon. It is easy to see why this delicate and floral wine is so popular.
Another memorable wine was the 2012 Gris de Gris, a blend of carignan and grenache gris. It is delicate yet has splendid acid zing combined with aromas and flavors of green apples and flowers.
The flagship wine is the Le Souverain, a 50:50 blend of cabernet sauvignon and arinarnoa. The latter is a hybrid of merlot and petit verdot developed in 1956.
The 2008 vintage is the current release and is majestic. Huge aromas of blackberries, chocolate, carob and liquorice greet the nose before subtle yet perfumed textures adorn the mouth. A wine to keep for decades for special occasions.
Elie Maamari is the chief winemaker at Chateau Ksara. His first vintage working alone was in 1982, at the height of the Civil War. Maamari is proud that even during the war years the vineyard produced a vintage every year.
Currently Lebanon has about 2,000 hectares under vine. Maamari believes the industry needs to focus on quality because the maximum vineyard surface available in Lebanon is only 3,000 hectares.
“That is why quality is very important, since we can never compete with volume.”
Another of the best-known vineyards in Lebanon is Chateau Musar, founded in 1930. Gaston Hochar is the general manager, and grandson of the founder. They share the same name.
The winery is in Ghazir, and overlooks the hills and bright blue waters around Jounieh. Most of its grapes come from vines that received organic certification.
Musar produces four levels in descending order: Chateau Musar, Hochar Pere et Fils, Cuvee Musar and Jeunesse. Most of the levels consist of a white, a rosé and a red. All wines are blends. The reds and rosé tend to use traditional international grapes while the whites employ indigenous varieties.
Jeunesse means “young,” and these are intended to be consumed early. At the other end of the spectrum, the Chateau Musar wines are only available after a long time in the cellar.
Musar releases its flagship white after eight years, while the red is available after seven years.
A colleague, Quentin Sadler, and I tasted the 2007 red, the current vintage, then a 1998 and a 1977. The 2007 red is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, carignan and cinsault. Think flavors of mocha, black fruits, spices and zaatar, encased in an elegant structure of soft tannins.
The white is a blend of obeideh (66 percent) and merwah, the two most common indigenous grapes. The 2006 is the current release.
These two white grapes are also used for arak. Huge bags of aniseed sat near the entrance of the winery when we visited, giving the place a playful smell as we walked around.
I love the aromas of the Chateau Musar red and white. The reds have a funky and earthy nose and are very distinctive. Indeed, while judging in Beirut, I found it easy to identify the Musar red in a blind tasting. A feature of the white is the way the flavors and aromas change each time one approaches the glass.
Musar only uses natural yeasts and Gaston Hochar was at pains to emphasize that there was no formula to Musar’s flagship wines. “We let the wines makes themselves,” he said modestly. But such joy is no accident.
We tasted a range of barrel samples from 2013 that will make up the flagship red: cabernet sauvignon, carignan and cinsault. Separately they are fascinating but combined they work a special magic.
Musar reds have become cult wines. Museum releases command high prices. For example, the 1977 Chateau Musar red sold for 3.99 pounds a bottle when released in the United Kingdom in 1984. It currently sells for $420 a bottle at the winery. The 1996 vintage sells for $990 a bottle.
Limited space means that I am unable to mention other fine wines from estates such as Karam Winery, Chateau Nakad, Chateau Florentine and Ixsir. Lebanese wine exudes quality.
[More articles] , www.tourism-lebanon.com
KSARA, Lebanon: Chateau Ksara is the oldest continuous winemaking operation in Lebanon. Jesuit priests founded Ksara in 1857, and this religious and teaching order continued to make wine until 1973, when a local consortium purchased the estate.
Ksara has the largest output of any Lebanese vineyard, producing almost 3 million bottles a year. It exports about 40 percent of that total, higher than the national export average of about 30 percent.
The chateau has the largest area of natural caves of any vineyard in Lebanon. The caves are about 8-12 meters below ground, and are natural refrigerators. They maintain a constant temperature of between 11-13 degrees all year round, with 80 percent humidity. A fungus grows in the humidity that helps to preserve wine.
James Palge has been one of Ksara’s winemakers since 1994 after arriving from France. He is also the technical director.
A highlight of my visit occurred when Palge opened a 1942 white made by the Jesuits. The bottle was covered in fungus that needed to be removed before the wine was presented. It was a majestic sweet wine, smelling and tasting of coffee and walnuts, and could almost be described as a spiritual experience.
Ksara is served on Middle East Airlines, and I enjoyed my first taste of their 2012 Blanc de Blancs on my flight to Beirut. It is a blend of 50 percent sauvignon blanc, 30 percent semillon and 20 percent chardonnay, and is the best-selling white in Lebanon. It is easy to see why this delicate and floral wine is so popular.
Another memorable wine was the 2012 Gris de Gris, a blend of carignan and grenache gris. It is delicate yet has splendid acid zing combined with aromas and flavors of green apples and flowers.
The flagship wine is the Le Souverain, a 50:50 blend of cabernet sauvignon and arinarnoa. The latter is a hybrid of merlot and petit verdot developed in 1956.
The 2008 vintage is the current release and is majestic. Huge aromas of blackberries, chocolate, carob and liquorice greet the nose before subtle yet perfumed textures adorn the mouth. A wine to keep for decades for special occasions.
Elie Maamari is the chief winemaker at Chateau Ksara. His first vintage working alone was in 1982, at the height of the Civil War. Maamari is proud that even during the war years the vineyard produced a vintage every year.
Currently Lebanon has about 2,000 hectares under vine. Maamari believes the industry needs to focus on quality because the maximum vineyard surface available in Lebanon is only 3,000 hectares.
“That is why quality is very important, since we can never compete with volume.”
Another of the best-known vineyards in Lebanon is Chateau Musar, founded in 1930. Gaston Hochar is the general manager, and grandson of the founder. They share the same name.
The winery is in Ghazir, and overlooks the hills and bright blue waters around Jounieh. Most of its grapes come from vines that received organic certification.
Musar produces four levels in descending order: Chateau Musar, Hochar Pere et Fils, Cuvee Musar and Jeunesse. Most of the levels consist of a white, a rosé and a red. All wines are blends. The reds and rosé tend to use traditional international grapes while the whites employ indigenous varieties.
Jeunesse means “young,” and these are intended to be consumed early. At the other end of the spectrum, the Chateau Musar wines are only available after a long time in the cellar.
Musar releases its flagship white after eight years, while the red is available after seven years.
A colleague, Quentin Sadler, and I tasted the 2007 red, the current vintage, then a 1998 and a 1977. The 2007 red is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, carignan and cinsault. Think flavors of mocha, black fruits, spices and zaatar, encased in an elegant structure of soft tannins.
The white is a blend of obeideh (66 percent) and merwah, the two most common indigenous grapes. The 2006 is the current release.
These two white grapes are also used for arak. Huge bags of aniseed sat near the entrance of the winery when we visited, giving the place a playful smell as we walked around.
I love the aromas of the Chateau Musar red and white. The reds have a funky and earthy nose and are very distinctive. Indeed, while judging in Beirut, I found it easy to identify the Musar red in a blind tasting. A feature of the white is the way the flavors and aromas change each time one approaches the glass.
Musar only uses natural yeasts and Gaston Hochar was at pains to emphasize that there was no formula to Musar’s flagship wines. “We let the wines makes themselves,” he said modestly. But such joy is no accident.
We tasted a range of barrel samples from 2013 that will make up the flagship red: cabernet sauvignon, carignan and cinsault. Separately they are fascinating but combined they work a special magic.
Musar reds have become cult wines. Museum releases command high prices. For example, the 1977 Chateau Musar red sold for 3.99 pounds a bottle when released in the United Kingdom in 1984. It currently sells for $420 a bottle at the winery. The 1996 vintage sells for $990 a bottle.
Limited space means that I am unable to mention other fine wines from estates such as Karam Winery, Chateau Nakad, Chateau Florentine and Ixsir. Lebanese wine exudes quality.
[More articles] , www.tourism-lebanon.com
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