Article (Special for Otto): Make wine not war

Make wine not war: Lebanon's new generation of winemakers.

Excerpt from above article in today's San Francisco Chronicle:

Winemaking in Lebanon is big business - more than 4 million bottles each year. It has succeeded in Lebanon's diverse demographics, where Islam, which forbids the drinking of alcohol, coexists with Maronite Christianity and a long-standing wine culture.

But the industry has struggled to gain recognition in the West. Lebanon produces some excellent wines, but the Bekaa Valley has none of the cachet of Bordeaux. The Levant is associated with many things; wine is not one of them.

Make wine not war: Lebanon's new generation of winemakers.

Excerpt from above article in today's San Francisco Chronicle:

Winemaking in Lebanon is big business - more than 4 million bottles each year. It has succeeded in Lebanon's diverse demographics, where Islam, which forbids the drinking of alcohol, coexists with Maronite Christianity and a long-standing wine culture.

But the industry has struggled to gain recognition in the West. Lebanon produces some excellent wines, but the Bekaa Valley has none of the cachet of Bordeaux. The Levant is associated with many things; wine is not one of them.

Funny - I saw this today and the first person I thought of was Otto, too.

[James Roscoe]

Has anyone tried other Lebanese wines? Based upon my few tastes of Musar, it is a country of great potential if they would stop killing each other. The Musars I have had, even the second wines, are quite good.

Has anyone tried other Lebanese wines? Based upon my few tastes of Musar, it is a country of great potential if they would stop killing each other. The Musars I have had, even the second wines, are quite good.

I've tried the Chateau Ksara Reserve du Couvent. Not so good.

I've tried through quite a few of the wineries there. While others may make competent stuff, I haven't been excited by anything but Musar. Kefraya's Comte de M is a "good" wine, but very international in style IMO. Like with many up-coming regions, I find that conformation to an international style, i.e. lack of own voice, plus preponderance of oak aromatics are the major reasons why I cannot get excited. I would imagine that if you aren't as afraid of oak or international styles there are some good values coming out of there: especially Kefraya.

I must admit, however, that it has been a couple years since I last visited Lebanon so I certainly am not up to date on any new ideas going on there. I hear good news, though. I hope I will soon see samples of Massaya.

Michael Karam has a nice artice here, with more up to date info on Lebanese wines.

Thanks for the article link!

-O