Massaya is a Lebanese winery and arak distillery owned and operated by the Ghosn brothers Sami and Ramzi. Situated in the north of the

Beqaa Valley The Beqaa Valley (, ; Bekaa, Biqâ, Becaa) is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon and its most important farming region. Industry, especially the country's agricultural industry, also flourishes in Beqaa. The region broadly corresponds to th ...

near Chtaura and

Zahlé Zahlé () is a city in eastern Lebanon, and the capital and largest city of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. With around 150,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Lebanon after Beirut and Tripoli, Lebanon, Tripoli and the fourth-largest ...

, 38 km from

Baalbek Baalbek (; ; ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In 1998, the city had a population of 82,608. Most of the population consists of S ...

, the winery and distillery are located on the Tanaïl property, which is also home to vineyards and a restaurant. The Beqaa Valley has an extensive history of viticulture dating back over 5,000 years to the

Phoenicians Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syrian coast. They developed a maritime civi ...

. The northern Bekaa has traditionally been a favoured

terroir (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...

for

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

, especially since the beginning of the last century. Vines have also been introduced in the southern Bekaa as part of the recent surge in the number of wineries established in Lebanon.

The history of the estate

The Tanaïl property was brought by Michel and Amal Ghosn in the early 1970s and was used by the family as a country retreat from their primary residence in Beirut. In line with tradition, it was planted

table grape Table grapes are grapes intended for consumption as fresh fruit, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, Juicing, juice production, jelly and jam making, or for drying into raisins. ''Vitis vinifera'' table grapes can be in the form of e ...

s, including indigenous varieties such as beitamouni and obeidi, used to produce home-made arak. It also had a

kitchen garden The traditional kitchen garden, vegetable garden, also known as a potager (from the French ) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. It is used for grow ...

growing mekti, an indigenous drought-resistant cucumber, and

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

s. The outbreak of the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

in 1975 forced the family to leave the estate and both Sami and Ramzi Ghosn left Lebanon to study abroad. In the early 1990s Sami and Ramzi returned to Lebanon and decided to work on revitalisating the war-ravaged estate.

Establishment

At the end of the civil war in 1991 there were five wineries in Lebanon –

Château Musar Chateau Musar is a Lebanese winery located in Ghazir, Lebanon, north of the capital Beirut. Musar grapes grow in the Beqaa Valley, a fertile sunny valley at an elevation of , situated east of Beirut. History The winery was established by Ga ...

, Château Ksara,

Kefraya Kefraya ( / ALA-LC: ''Kifrayā'') is a village in the Western Beqaa District of the Beqaa Governorate in the Republic of Lebanon, approximately northwest of Joub Jannine. The village is home to a mixed population of Sunnis and Greek Catholics ...

, Domaine des Tourelles and Nakad but that number has now increased to over 30. As part of this renaissance, the Ghosn brothers, assisted by French partners, established the Massaya winery in 1998, citing the historical potential of Lebanese terroir and a desire to revitalise both a traditional industry and an area that had suffered hugely during the civil war. Initially the brothers focused on the revival of traditional home-made arak, the Lebanese spirit made from wine and aniseed, often likened to Turkey's raki and Greece's

ouzo Ouzo (, ) is a dry anise-flavored aperitif that is widely consumed in Cyprus and Greece. It is made from rectified spirits that have undergone a process of distillation and flavoring. Its taste is similar to other anise liquors like pastis, sam ...

. Only traditional methods were used, including the burning of vine wood to heat the copper alembics used for distillation and the use of traditional clay jars for ageing the arak. The clay jars are produced for Massaya by specialised potters from the village of Beit Chabab. The arak is triple distilled and aged for 18 months. It is drunk diluted with water or ice. Massaya now produces 40,000 litres per annum which is sold in distinctive blue bottles and has had notable success

French partners

The Brunier family of

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Châteauneuf-du-Pape (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The village lies about to the east of the Rhône and north of the town of Avignon. A ruined medieval castle s ...

and the Hebrard family, formerly of Château Cheval Blanc in

Saint-Émilion Saint-Émilion (; Gascon dialect, Gascon: ''Sent Milion'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in Southwestern France. In the heart of the country of Libournais (the area around Libourne), in a regio ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, are partners in the winery. Hippolyte Brunier planted his first wine stocks on Plateau de la Crau, where grapes had been grown since the 14th century and where, in 1972, Claude Chappe, the inventor of the optical telegraph, built one of his signal towers. Hippolyte’s son, Jules, extended the estate to 42 acres and gave it its name "Vieux Télégraphe". Since the early 1980s, the family business has been run by Frédéric and Daniel, both of whom are partners in Massaya. After the sale of the Hebrard family enterprise, Dominic Hebrard established la Maison Hebrard, a new Chateau in Saint Emilion, and went into partnership with Massaya.

Wines

The grapes are harvested in September and October from Massaya's vineyards on the Tanaïl property as well as other areas of Massaya land around the Bekaa valley. Massaya bottles five wines per vintage: one white, one rosé and three reds – Classic, Silver Selection and Gold Reserve, made from varying blends of Grenache noir,

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 ...

, Mourvedre,

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

Cinsault Cinsaut or Cinsault ( , ) is a red wine grape whose heat tolerance and productivity make it important in Languedoc-Roussillon and the former French colonies of Algeria, Lebanon, and Morocco. It is often blended with grapes such as Grenache and ...

. Both the Gold Reserve and Silver Selection are aged in

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

before release. The wines have won several awards.Massaya gold reserve red
''Decanter'', 2010 The winery produces 300,000 bottles per annum, 80% of which are exported. Its restaurant and tasting facilities are frequented by resident Lebanese and

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

alike.

References

External links

Massaya official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massaya Wineries of Lebanon 1998 establishments in Lebanon Food and drink companies established in 1998 Lebanese brands