Producer
Château Ksara is Lebanon’s oldest winery, and its establishment laid the foundations for the country’s modern wine industry. It is situated in the heart of the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon’s pre-eminent wine-producing region. Winemaking began in 1857 when the estate was inherited by Jesuit monks, who began farming a 27-hectare plot of land where they produced Lebanon’s first dry red wine. In 1973, identifying Ksara’s potential, a consortium of forward-thinking local Lebanese businessmen purchased the estate and set about investing in the vineyards and the cellars. Their foresight has positioned Château Ksara as one of Lebanon’s most successful wineries.
Vineyard
Château Ksara have 440 hectares of vines, split between ten different vineyards in the central and western Bekaa Valley. The climate is classically Mediterranean, with warm and dry summers and cool, wet winters and the vineyards are at an average altitude of 1,000 metres, ensuring that the warm days are followed by cool evenings. No pesticides or herbicides are used on the vineyards, which are farmed almost organically. The soils are a mixture of clay, clay and chalk or clay and limestone depending on site, but all have a high content of stones.
Winery
After hand harvesting, the grapes were destemmed and fermented in cement tanks. The Cinsault received a short vatting period to preserve freshness, whilst the other grapes spent longer on their skins to aid extraction. Each component aged for twelve to fourteen months in vat, before blending and bottling.
