The Château Qanafar of Bekaa Valley

Château Qanafar - Eva Le Viognier de Qanafar
The winery offers 9 different wines
4.0
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Its wines get an average rating of 4.
It is ranked in the top 3 of the estates of Bekaa Valley.
It is located in Bekaa Valley

The Château Qanafar is one of the largest wineries in the world. It offers 9 wines for sale in of Bekaa Valley to come and discover on site or to buy online.

Top Château Qanafar wines

Looking for the best Château Qanafar wines in Bekaa Valley among all the wines in the region? Check out our tops of the best red, white or effervescent Château Qanafar wines. Also find some food and wine pairings that may be suitable with the wines from this area. Learn more about the region and the Château Qanafar wines with technical and enological descriptions.

The top white wines of Château Qanafar

Food and wine pairings with a white wine of Château Qanafar

How Château Qanafar wines pair with each other generally quite well with dishes of pork, game (deer, venison) or shellfish such as recipes of baked pumpkin, rack of lamb with herbs or cuttlefish rust from my grandmother in sète.

Organoleptic analysis of white wines of Château Qanafar

On the nose the white wine of Château Qanafar. often reveals types of flavors of oaky, non oak or earth and sometimes also flavors of oak, tree fruit or citrus fruit.

The best vintages in the white wines of Château Qanafar

  • 2012With an average score of 4.40/5
  • 2015With an average score of 4.16/5
  • 2017With an average score of 3.94/5
  • 2018With an average score of 3.80/5
  • 2016With an average score of 3.70/5
  • 2014With an average score of 3.67/5

The grape varieties most used in the white wines of Château Qanafar.

  • Viognier
  • Sauvignon Blanc

Discovering the wine region of Bekaa Valley

The Bekaa Valley is the heartland of modern Lebanese wine. Almost 90 percent of Lebanon's wine is made here, as is a respectable proportion of its Arak, the anise-flavored spirit that remains the nation's favorite alcoholic drink. The original Bekaa Valley Vineyards were planted with Cinsaut, which was subsequently joined by other French vine varieties. Most of these remain in Lebanon’s vinicultural makeup today: red Carignan, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and white Ugni Blanc, Clairette and Chardonnay.

The oldest winery in the area is Chateau Ksara, which was established by the Jesuit Christians of Taanayel (Tanail), an ancient monastic settlement just down the valley from Ksara. The first Vineyard there was planted in 1857, with plants brought from France via the colonies in Algeria. At that time Lebanon was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, whose Sharia law condemned the production or consumption of wine except for religious purposes. Thus the initial winery was very subdued, and it was not until the French took control of the country after WW1 (under the League of Nations' French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon) that Bekaa Valley wine production began to expand.

Chateau Musar, founded in 1930, is another Long-established estate in the valley and the most famous in global terms. A 1979 write-up in Decanter magazine by Michael Broadbent helped to Open up export markets. By 1990, the vast majority of their production left the country. This year marked the end of the Lebanese Civil War, which had lasted since 1975.

The top red wines of Château Qanafar

Food and wine pairings with a red wine of Château Qanafar

How Château Qanafar wines pair with each other generally quite well with dishes of beef, lamb or game (deer, venison) such as recipes of quick beef bourguignon, moroccan tagine with lamb and cardoons or leg of wild boar.

Organoleptic analysis of red wines of Château Qanafar

On the nose the red wine of Château Qanafar. often reveals types of flavors of cherry, cassis or black fruit and sometimes also flavors of red fruit, spices or oak.

The best vintages in the red wines of Château Qanafar

  • 2009With an average score of 4.50/5
  • 2012With an average score of 4.33/5
  • 2011With an average score of 4.10/5
  • 2010With an average score of 4.06/5
  • 2017With an average score of 4.03/5
  • 2013With an average score of 3.94/5

The grape varieties most used in the red wines of Château Qanafar.

  • Shiraz/Syrah
  • Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Merlot
  • Cinsaut
  • Cinsault

Discover the grape variety: Merlot

Merlot noir is a grape variety that originated in France (Bordeaux). It produces a variety of grape specially used for wine making. It is rare to find this grape to eat on our tables. This variety of grape is characterized by small to medium sized bunches, and medium sized grapes. Merlot noir can be found in many vineyards: South West, Languedoc & Roussillon, Cognac, Bordeaux, Loire Valley, Armagnac, Burgundy, Jura, Champagne, Rhone Valley, Beaujolais, Provence & Corsica, Savoie & Bugey.

The top pink wines of Château Qanafar

Food and wine pairings with a pink wine of Château Qanafar

How Château Qanafar wines pair with each other generally quite well with dishes of beef, lamb or pork such as recipes of alsatian bäckeoffe, lamb tagine with olives and honey or reblochon tartiflette.

The grape varieties most used in the pink wines of Château Qanafar.

  • Tempranillo

The word of the wine: Tastevin

Metal cup, wide and of low height, being used to mirror and taste the wine. Still used in wine brotherhoods for its emblematic and folkloric character, the tastevin has been replaced by the various tasting glasses.

Discover other wineries and winemakers neighboring the Château Qanafar

Planning a wine route in the of Bekaa Valley? Here are the wineries to visit and the winemakers to meet during your trip in search of wines similar to Château Qanafar.

Discover the grape variety: Cinsaut

Cinsaut noir is a grape variety that originated in France (Provence). It produces a variety of grape specially used for wine making. It is rare to find this grape to eat on our tables. This variety of grape is characterized by large bunches and large grapes. Cinsaut noir can be found in several vineyards: South-West, Cognac, Bordeaux, Provence & Corsica, Rhône valley, Languedoc & Roussillon, Loire valley, Savoie & Bugey, Beaujolais, Armagnac.

News about Château Qanafar and wines from the region

Reaction as Mouton and Margaux 2021 released en primeur

Both Mouton and Margaux 2021 were released en primeur at €420 per bottle ex-Bordeaux, down 2.8% on the 2020-vintage debut last year, according to Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade. While the market dynamics vary between these two First Growths, their 2021 grands vins were being sold en primeur as the cheapest of the last four vintages – below current prices on 2018, 2019 and 2020. Merchants were offering Mouton 2021 and Margaux 2021 at £5,100 (12x75cl in bond). Initial signs suggested t ...

Walls: Tasting the classic 2001 Guigal La Las

Like many teenagers, I was obsessed with movies when I was growing up. When I see original posters today for films I enjoyed back then, the effect is immediate – a glance somehow conjures the story, the characters and the emotional impact all at once. Today, wine labels can have a similar effect. And what more iconic labels are there in the Rhône than Guigal’s single vineyard Côte-Rôties? When I see the red and gold label of La Mouline, it has the same effect as when I’m confronted with the post ...

Duero’s Dehesa Peñalba vinery awarded single estate denomination

Bodegas Vizar is located in the municipality of Villabáñez, to the east of Valladolid is Spain’s Castile and León region, bordering the Ribera del Duero DO. Vizar’s application to obtain the Dehesa Peñalba vino de pago DO was first put forward to, and approved by the Agrarian and Technological Institute of Castilla y León (ITACyL), in 2019. The proposal was then submitted to the European Commission, which granted the final green light earlier this month. ‘We started the process in 2015 and ...

The word of the wine: Tastevin

Metal cup, wide and of low height, being used to mirror and taste the wine. Still used in wine brotherhoods for its emblematic and folkloric character, the tastevin has been replaced by the various tasting glasses.