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Trips Wine And Wanderlust: Unveiling Lebanon's Vino Wonders At Bkerzay And Beyond
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Wine And Wanderlust: Unveiling Lebanon's Vino Wonders At Bkerzay And Beyond

Wine tourism in Lebanon is a burgeoning trend, but the country’s love affair with wine is age-old. These boutique wineries are proof.

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By: Devanshi Mody Published: Feb 08, 2024 10:00 AM IST

Wine And Wanderlust: Unveiling Lebanon's Vino Wonders At Bkerzay And Beyond
Located in the central courtyard, the Piazza at Bkerzay offers a traditionally elegant setting with lounges and tables.

A sparkle of crystal chandeliers tumbles be dazzlingly down on frolicsome fountains. It is the Cascade Lodge at Beirut’s iconic Phoenicia hotel that has just relaunched after the 2020 Beirut Blast emblazoning that Lebanon is open for tourism. Wine tourism is the rage as 80-odd wineries jostle spiritedly to resurrect Lebanon’s high life, a way of life in this hoary land where wine was made from Phoenician times 8,000 years ago. Befittingly then, Jesus turned water into wine in Lebanon. Today Lebanese wines have penetrated top Michelin-starred restaurants. But we are toasting the spirit of Lebanon with champagne. Well, I am; my mother is inebriated by Lebanese hospitality as a swirl of obliging staff present us rekakat (crispy cheese rolls), lentil soup, and more. The next morning, at breakfast, we wake to marvellous views of boat-studded seas framed by the glass facade of Mosaic restaurant and the splendour of Lebanese breakfast. Amidst a feast of succulent gleaming apricots, figs as plump as mini cushions, plenteous nuts, and a bewildering array of Lebanese cheeses what staggers are hot-hot Levantine mannish with varietal toppings (thyme-and-sesame zaatar, cheese, meats ) tossed fresh out of an oven onto our outstretched plates. We return to our table to discover the pastry team has tessellated it with local sweetmeats, including addictively good sesame and pistachio loaf maamoul madd bi festouk. 

Chouf Mountains
Eco retreat Bkerzay offers a private getaway in the Chouf mountains

Hospitality as delectable as the cuisine seasons our stay at Lebanon’s most exalted address, The Albergo. This is where you come to see and be seen emerging from a Rolls Royce, apparelled like you were at the Oscars, just to dine at the famous Albergo restaurant. More exciting is the glamorous new Lobby Cafe with its Parisian-style courtyard terraces where one can relish a contemporised take on Lebanese breakfast such as pizza-like manakish and other Lebanese fare. At supper, supervisor Toni Sfeir, who has been around 30 years, as long as The Albergo and its celebrated capellini, has us discover the terrace top Albergo restaurant’s crafted dishes. But when we sup on truffle pasta at the Lobby Courtyard, Toni, whose arena is the terrace top, is down to pop the champagne. On weekends the glam set flaunts their fashion at poolside rooftop Swim Club, which serves up a decor of swooning palms over canapés and cunning cocktails. Our first experience of homely Lebanese cuisine is at Beit Trad , once an old monastery and then Sarah Trad’s family home in the hills, which she converted into Lebanon’s favourite weekend getaway.

Burgundy , Lebanon
Burgundy is one of Beirut’s finest culinary addresses.

Lebanon’s premier and most internationally-renowned winery Château Musar is nearby for wine-tasting. After displaying wine cellars swaddled in cobwebs, owner Ralph Hochar unveils his historic castle, now privatised for fairy-tale weddings. From this perched address, you can spot Beirut—with or without the complicity of the consummate Château Musar 2014.

Boutique Wineries

Lebanon
Indira Guest House is a nine-suite property in an over 200-year-old home in the mountain town of Kfour.

Neighbouring the winery is the new Indira Guest House , the destination’s most opulent boutique retreat. You could be lunching by an ambassador, if not a king at this lavish abode. Wines from North Lebanon are showcased here. You may dine in majestic suites the size of an apartment. But more thrilling is dining on sea-facing terraces. For something quintessentially Lebanese is another new boutique retreat, the ravishing Beit Noun  where Carole Noun makes aniseed-infused Lebanese speciality arak in-house. Retro retreat Villa Chamoun  reigns remotely in UNESCO-stamped Qadisha Valley withits extraordinary Maronite monasteries and mountain caves. In them Maronite anchorites dwelled to escape persecution from invading Islamists, braving deadly winters, surviving on victuals hoisted up to them on ropes. Contrasting the fasting of the monks is our feating at Villa Chamoun. Maria, the villa’s wondrous young manageress, takes us to monasteries crenelated into the meanders of the mountains. But not before spoiling us with the classiest breakfast in all of Lebanon served in stunning glassware. Expect homemade cheeses like baladi. The villa’s Bar Michel assembles a spectacular selection of single malt whiskies including Glenfeddich 21 Year Old Reserva Rum Cask Finish. It’s just mum and I but managers join us as staff conjure a seven-course champagne supper inaugurated with Lebanese starters including spinach, cheese fatayer, dolmas, kaake bread with homemade Akawi cheese, citrus fruit Freekeh salad, followed by gourmet continental fare with gorgeous cedar cèpe risotto and truffle ravioli.

From one mountain range we swing up to another, the Chouf mountains, where we are invited to a private party at Amal Clooney’s cousin Ramzi Selman’s eco retreat Bkerzay. Amidst belly-dancing, Lebanon’s party spirit flows, and a fanfare of Lebanese dishes unleashes. Bkerzay proves an idyllic nest from which to explore Lebanon’s wine routes in the lovely Bekaa Valley.

Beit Kanz restaurant
Beit Kanz is a restaurant-cum-luxury boutique housedin a restored heritage building.

Lebanon’s prettiest winery is its oldest commercial winery, Domaine des Tourelles , launched in 1867 by French engineer Philip Brun who came to build the Bekaa bridge, fell in love with the region’s comeliness and opened a hotel. But how to run a hotel without wine, he pondered, as the French would, and so launched this delightful historic winery now acquired by Emile Issa-el-Khoury, a Lebanese aristocrat and family friend of the Brun family. Showing us the historic winery, Emile conveys emphatically that they make wine as naturally as possible eschewing unnatural materials/processes.

From Bkerzay, we visit Baalbek endowed with stupendous Roman Temples. The Temple of Bacchus, dedicated to the God of Wine, is as much a visual treat as an academic retreat emblematic of Lebanon’s complex wine-steeped history which was riotous in the Roman era. The Christian spirit of wine is exemplified at multi-award- winning Chateau St Thomas  with its grotto of St Thomas. Nathalie Thouma and her family have us discover Lebanese Pinot Noir, Merlot, and award- winning Chateau 2000 blending Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Merlot.

Lebanon Indira Guest House
The Pasha Pool Suite at Indira Guest House overlooks the pool terrace.

Lebanese wines aren’t like French wines because they aren’t trying to be, says young Roland Abi Khater of Coteau du Liban .Roland elucidates that whilst his Burgundy- trained new bride Tamara, the oenologist, implements the Burgundy model, Lebanese wines are affected by Lebanese conditions to which they must perforce adapt. Their blends thus vary with the whims of the season, commensurate with how ferocious summers and smiting mountainous winters impact individual grape varieties. Of consequence is retaining finesse, not puritanical procedures, Roland says over a wine-tasting lunch. We don’t quite get round to Nicolas, their premium wine honouring Roland’s father Nicolas who died of stress in the vineyards amidst Lebanon’s tempestuous history. That their wines, thanks to his mother’s grit, have entered three-Michelin-starred restaurants today celebrates the Lebanese spirit.

At Vertical 33 , quirky practising medic Dr Eid Aziz who has taken to wine-making exploits Burgundy- style parcellaires, and elaborates how Lebanon’s complex terroir lends itself to soil-sensitive wines making for the uniqueness of wine from Lebanon. His winery teeters on a hill. The winery tour includes a riveting account of the region’s topography, history, geography, and romance. Lebanon’s chicest approach to wine is presented by Karim Sade of Chateau Marsyas  whose winery honours the bacchanal satyr Marsyas. Karim distinguishes himself amidst Lebanese viticultures by scathing indigenous grapes and offering haughty wines made with prissy perfection. These you discover at suave wine-tasting soirées in Beirut although the winery extends visits to exquisite vineyard lunches and exclusive parties.

Villa Chamoun
Breakfast at Viilla Chamoun is a classy affair.

Our month-long Lebanese sojourn culminates at Beirut’s finest culinary addresses. The longest, most luxurious, and most gourmet pause is at Lebanon’s sole gastronomic restaurant Burgundy , which only serves premium wines from Burgundy. In interiors worthy of Paris’s poshest addresses unfurl epicurean extravaganzas which could fetch them a Michelin Star, perhaps two. The owner is a charmer who is privileged to host the owner of Romani Conti, the world’s most expensive wine. It’s criminal to leave Lebanon without supper at Burgundy and lunch at their sleek sister restaurant Paname.

The raciest dining options include Beirut’s zingiest restaurant Le Petit Gris where charming owner Makram wades about with languid ease, plying you with Beirut’s finest bistro food. Centrale’s where haute society comes in furs and shades for French food on a sold-out Monday night whilst House of Butlers  pair snacks with tremendously rare single malt whiskeys and Marinella’s for lunch. Pretty young Natasha.

Fady projects the riches of her land in rivetingly original gourmet creations with a fusion twist at her young, fun restaurant Terre. Beit Kanz is a beauteous restaurant- cum-luxury boutique in a heritage building shattered by the Beirut Blast but which Maya Ibrahimchah ditched a fancy job in finance to have restored and converted into a benevolent enterprise that revives indigenous produce and artisanal craft and sustains pensionless elders. Beirut’s finest Lebanese cuisine is at the fabled Liza , which occupies a gardened heritage building and serves local cuisine streamlined with French chic. This elegance conferred on Lebanese cuisine has taken the restaurant to Paris. But the experience is more delectable in Beirut. This is food to fly for!

Getting there 

Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways operate regular flights from New Delhi and Mumbai to Beirut.

Stay

Phoenicia Hotel is within walking distance of art, shopping, dining and entertainment spaces. Doubles from INR 18,538

Bkerzay is a private getaway in the Chouf mountains that offers an escape in a traditional Lebanese architectural setting, surrounded by lush landscapes. Doubles from INR 16,626

Related: Uncorking Adelaide’s Culinary Delights: A Guide To The City’s Wineries & Distilleries

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

— What makes Lebanese wine unique?
High altitude cultivation, dry farming, organic farming, hand harvesting, and native grape varieties are credited for making Lebanese wine unique.

— What is the most popular drink in Lebanon?
Arak is widely regarded as the national drink of Lebanon. Arak is a potent anise-flavoured spirit distilled from grapes and flavoured with anise seeds.

— How much wine does Lebanon produce? 
Lebanon produces around seven million bottles a year. To put this into context, Bordeaux alone produces 900 million!

Written By

Devanshi Mody

Devanshi Mody

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