The Winery Mas Hélios of Bekaa Valley

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.