Domaine de Bargylus is a wine estate on the slopes of the Coastal Mountain Range in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. These mountains, known as Mount Bargylus in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, produced notable wines up until the rise of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Domaine de Bargylus is managed by two brothers Karim and Sandro Saadé, with the assistance of renowned consultant

Stéphane Derenoncourt Stéphane Derenoncourt is a French people, French oenologist, ''vigneron'' working as a consultant for numerous winery, estates in Bordeaux wine, Bordeaux and other wine producers worldwide. With his wife, Christine Derenoncourt, he runs Vignerons ...

. It has been cited by wine critic

Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...

as "arguably the finest wine of the Eastern Mediterranean".

History

The Saadé family began works on the winery in 2003. The first vintage was produced in 2006. The Saadé family, of

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Christian origins, is originally from the coastal city of

Latakia Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...

, known in ancient times as

Laodicea ad Mare Laodicea () was a port city and important colonia of the Roman Empire in ancient Syria, near the modern city of Latakia. It was also called Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad mare. Under Septimius Severus, it was the capital of Roman Syria, an ...

(i.e. "Laodicea-by-the-sea"). The Saadé family traces its mercantile roots to the 18th and 19th century with prominent representatives such as Gabriel Saadé (1854-1939) and

Rodolphe Saadé Rodolphe Saadé (; ; born 3 March 1970) is a Franco-Lebanese businessman. He is the chairman of the CMA CGM, CMA CGM Group, a world leader in logistics transport, and the son of its founder, Jacques Saadé. As of April 2024, his net worth was e ...

(1900-1956). With an initial involvement in commodities’ trading and various industries, the family developed maritime and land transport activities on the initiative of Johnny Saadé, Rodolphe’s son, in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Johnny Saadé shifted his activities to the wine making, tourism and real estate fields. The family owns another winery in Lebanon's Beqaa valley, Château Marsyas. Other members of this Latakian family are Syrian intellectual and historian Gabriel W.Saadé (1922-1997) and his niece Leila Badre, a prominent Lebanese-Syrian archaeologist.

Operations

The vineyard is situated at 990 m, facing the Mediterranean. The soil is made of limestone, with some clay. The area has high daytime variation and relatively high rainfall. Two wines both in Francophile style are being produced. The

Sauvignon Blanc Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...

and

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

grapes for the white wine, and

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse ...

, and

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

for the red. In 2015, Domaine de Bargylus produced 45 thousands bottles of wine, and sold around the world. The vineyard has been targeted by Islamist rebels during the Syrian civil war.

References

External links

Bargylus Wines Syria
– winery official website
Lebanon – Sunning grapes
''The first wine from the Johnny R. Saadé family was the Syrian Bargylus, whose grapes are grown on 20 hectares of land at Jebel al-Ansariyeh on the outskirts of the port city of Lattakia and which produced its first harvest in 2006.'' (archived 21 July 2015)
'Very old world' wine makes a comeback in Lebanon and Syria
''CNN: Inside the Middle East'' 18 December 2009

''The New York Times'', 16 March 2012
First Syrian wine to hit UK
''Decanter.com'', 12 March 2012

''ft.com'', 21 April 2012
Syrian Vintner Carries On in a Time of War
''PRI's The World'', 7 June 2013
Top 100 Making An Impact In The Arab World
', Forbes Middle-east'' (archived 3 November 2015)

''The Telegraph''
Making wine in a war zone: Syria's 'dream' vineyard
''BBC news''
How one family is keeping winemaking alive in Syria
''South China Morning Post ''
Anson on Thursday: The five bottle cure – inspiring wine stories of 2015
''Decanter''
Determined syrian winery launches in HK
''The Drinks Business''
Vinexpo Bordeaux : Produire son vin en Syrie, une bataille au quotidien
''La Revue du Vin de France''
The most dangerous wine in the world: Incredible story of how grapes from war-torn Syria are smuggled out
''Mirror''
Wines of War
''Wine Spectator''
Fractious vintage: 'The most dangerous wine the world'
''The Irish Times''
News from the Middle East
''Financial Times''
This New Book Will Take You Around The World In Eighty Wines
''Forbes magazine''
Syrie: le vin le plus dangereux du monde
(), ''Arte TV'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Chateau Bargylus Wineries of Syria Syrian brands

History

Operations

See also

References

External links