[LCM Articles] NYTimes: Where Conflict Raged, Lebanon Now Tends Its Vineyards

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Something refreshing for a change,
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Where Conflict Raged, Lebanon Now Tends Its Vineyards 

http://travel2.nytimes.com/2005/10/16/travel/16lebanon.html?pagewanted=1


Massaya in the Bekaa Valley is among the newer players in the Lebanese wine county, which boasts a number of well-established
vineyards that produce respected labels.



By LEE SMITH

Published: October 16, 2005

AN hour or so east of Beirut - and a world away from some of the most daunting traffic jams in the Middle East - is one of the
region's most impressively beautiful landscapes. This is the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon's wine country nestled between the Lebanon and
Anti-Lebanon mountain ranges. It's a sort of Levantine Napa, where gentle stony slopes are framed by tall peaks and grapes are
terraced halfway to the top of the ridge. 

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Harvest at Chateau Ksara. 

I'm sitting with Michel de Bustros, managing director of Chateau Kefraya, a top Lebanese winemaker, taking in the sun as we finish a
long lunch at Dionysus, Kefraya's restaurant. 

It is a typically Lebanese feast that begins with assorted meze, like tabouleh, hummus and a fried cheese dish, then moves to
another course of grilled meats and fish and finishes nicely with a choice of pastries invariably filled with pistachios and
drenched in honey. Then there are the wines, including Kefraya's majestic Comte de M, a cabernet sauvignon, syrah and mourvèdre
blend whose '96 vintage earned a 91 (outstanding) rating from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. 

Wine regions around the world, from Napa Valley to Bordeaux, have long attracted tourists eager to wander among inviting vineyards
and sample their favorite wines at the place of their inception. And the Bekaa Valley seems to be no exception.

"We get everyone," Mr. de Bustros says. "Plenty of foreign tourists stop by, but also a lot of native Beirutis come over to enjoy an
afternoon outing. We even have writers who come out here and work on their laptops."

October, when the harvest shifts into high gear, is among the best times to visit, but Mr. de Bustros says local residents often
head out to the Bekaa even after the weather turns cold.

"It's fine to be here in winter," he says. "When those mountains are capped with snow, the sun's filling the valley and we're still
sitting here enjoying a long lunch."

Most of the six million bottles produced annually by Lebanese winemakers are consumed domestically, and much of what is sold
internationally is destined for Europe, where Lebanon's best-known wine, Chateau Musar, has a small but elite following. 

Lebanese wines, says Michael Karam, a Beirut native and the author of "Wines of Lebanon," are "arguably the country's only legal
world-class export." They are not that easy to find in the United States, though a number of American restaurants and wine shops
carry top Lebanese wines. 

Of course, Americans who want to visit the source of these wines may understandably be put off by the political situation. While
popular nonviolent demonstrations last spring helped end 15 years of Syrian occupation of the country, Lebanon, an Arab nation
composed of Christians and Sunni and Shiite Muslims, is not quite free from turmoil. Since the murder of the former Prime Minister
Rafik Hariri in February, the tiny country of less than four million people has been rattled by a string of assassinations and
bombings. 

Mr. de Bustros well remembers the civil war years from 1975 to 1990, when several regional and international forces had a hand in
the violence. Especially 1982, when Israeli tanks were parked in the Bekaa amid Kefraya's 740 acres. The vineyards are at least 50
years old, but the winery opened in 1979, when the war was well under way. 

It was perhaps an odd moment to embark on a business venture whose natural exigencies were at odds with the chaos of war. But the
grape has been a key part of the region's history for several millenniums.

Lebanon's viticultural tradition even predates Jesus' first mircle. Some contend that Qana, about a two-hour drive south from
Beirut, was the place where he is said to have turned water into wine. But right in the Bekaa Valley, the ruins at Baalbek, one of
the country's most famous tourist attractions, include a Roman temple devoted to Bacchus. 

Baalbek is a half-hour drive from Chateau Ksara, another of Lebanon's famous wineries, and the oldest (Mr. Karam calls it the
"establishment face of Lebanese wine"). In 1857, Jesuits planted vines there and thus began modern viniculture in Lebanon. The
Jesuits discovered a grotto thought to have been used by the Romans, which is where Ksara's wines are stored today. 

One of the newer vineyards is Massaya, run by Sami and Ramzi Ghosn, brothers in their late 30's. They were living abroad - one in
Los Angeles, the other in Paris - when they returned after the civil war to reclaim their parents' property, which was occupied by
squatters.

"Some we were able to buy off, and some were less accommodating, so we brought in a bulldozer," Ramzi Ghosn says over lunch. 

He pours a number of wines for me to try, including the highly rated 1999 Massaya Reserve, a blend that is half cabernet sauvignon
and half mourvèdre, and apologizes for serving guacamole. "I know it's not Lebanese," he says, "but I really love guacamole, and the
avocados were all grown in the Bekaa as well." 

That sort of willingness to experiment and borrow is characteristically Lebanese and apparently a Massaya trademark. If Kefraya is
the chicest and Ksara the most traditional of the Lebanese wineries, Massaya is the hippest. 

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Massaya vineyard. 

A smaller estate, (not all its grapes are home grown), Massaya has a grittier feel - part industrial, part rustic. Its restaurant,
Le Relais, serves Lebanese country cuisine along with Massaya's famous arak, an anise-flavored alcohol also made from grapes.
Chateau Musar's grapes mostly come from the Bekaa, but it is the country's only major winery not in the Bekaa Valley but rather some
20 miles north of Beirut on Mount Lebanon. Still, because the owners, the brothers Serge and Ronald Hochar, are credited even by
their peers for putting the Levant on the map, it's a must on any Lebanese wine tour. 

"Musar is an enigma," said Mr. Karam. "To many wine buffs, Serge Hochar is a genius who produces one of the great wines of the
world, and he is feted everywhere. Other, equally knowledgeable, wine people will dismiss his wine as a throwback to an older style,
yesterday's wine, if you like."

As Serge Hochar guided me through his simple and austere chateau, I tried to conceal the lingering effects of a cold, which did not
escape his attention. As I blew my nose, he reassured me: "You'll be able to taste this one I guarantee you." 

It had all been leading up to this. First, he had me sample the different varietals that go into his wines, while concealing the
exact percentages. "Why should I help someone else figure out what we do?" he said. 

And then it was time to taste the results in various vintages of the Chateau Musar red, including the 1995, one of the treasures of
Lebanese wine, even if he contended that it was still years from its ideal state. Miraculously, it was the wine itself that healed
me. 

In a sense, it is wine that has healed Lebanon and always has throughout its history. As Ronald Hochar explained, "In Lebanon,
making wine is a matter of time and faith." 

If You Go

Getting There

The closest airport is Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, a little more than an hour from the central Bekaa Valley. A
recent Web search for October fares found prices starting around $935 round trip from New York, but travel agencies specializing in
Middle East tours, like Oriental Travel in Brooklyn, (718) 624-3001, often offer much better prices. 

Major rental-car companies have locations at the Beirut airport and around the city. Or you can take a taxi the region from Beirut
for about $25. There are few actual street addresses in the Bekaa Valley, so be prepared to ask for directions - and more than once.


Visiting the Wineries 

While the harvest season - now under way - is perhaps the best time to visit, all major wineries are open year-round for tasting and
tours. 

Chateau Kefraya,, the most scenic of Lebanon's major wineries, is in the town of Kefraya, about 13 miles south of Chtaura. The tour
and tastings are free, but you should call for reservations at the chateau's Dionysus Restaurant, where a meal is about $40 for two,
including wine and arak. (961-8) 645-333 or (961-8) 645-444; www.chateaukefraya.com/kefraya1.html. 

Chateau Ksara is just over a mile south of Zahle. Its tour, which winds through its famed cave, is free, as are the tastings from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m. (961-8) 813-495 or (961-8) 818-254; www.ksara.com.lb. 

Massaya is on the Tanail Property about two miles from Chtaura on the Damascus Road. Tours and tastings are free, but reservations
are required at the vineyard's excellent rustic restaurant, Le Relais, which costs $44 for two, including wine and arak. The winery
is surprisingly child-friendly, with swings and a playground and nanny-service on request for about $20 a day. (961-8) 510-135;
www.massaya.com/wine.htm.

Chateau Musar is 40 minutes north of Beirut in the mountain village of Ghazir. This is the country's most acclaimed winery, and its
décor is austere and simple. Tastings and tours are by appointment at no charge. (961-9) 925-056 or (961-9) 925-127;
www.chateaumusar.com.lb.

Where to Stay 

Grand Hotel Kadri, Brazil Street, Zahle; (961 8) 813-920; www.grandhotelkadri.com. A top-end hotel that is centrally situated; $137
a night

West Bekaa Country Club, Kherbit Kanafar, just over a mile north of the Kefraya winery; (961 8) 654-601; www.wbccbekaa.com. There
are plenty of activities, including swimming, tennis, horseback riding, skeet shooting and archery. Rates are $90 a night Monday to
Thursday; $120 on weekends.

The Palmyra in Baalbek is a 30-minute drive north from Chtaura. (961-8) 370-230. An Ottoman-era hotel built in the 1870's, it is
opposite the ruins at Baalbek. Famous guests have included Bismarck and de Gaulle. Rates are $53 a night.

http://travel2.nytimes.com/2005/10/16/travel/16lebanon.html?pagewanted=1

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