hello from lebanon

[eddy]

hi there!

just introducing myself .. my name is Eddy, my family and I are starting a new winery in Lebanon (Middle East).. we started planting in 2004, and this year we reached about 140,000 sq m (1.5m sq ft?) of planted land with cab sauvignon, merlot, syrah as the three major red varieties (with some tempranillo) and viognier, sauvignon blanc, riesling as white.

we've been producing since 2005 but it has been a learning process, and each year has yielded improved results.. 2008 is now bottled, and 2009 is almost done fermenting and will soon be placed in new oak barrels.

I'm still new to winemaking myself, so i look forward to learning in this forum

here is a pic of our newly planted lands:

cheers,
eddy

 

[Wade E]

Welcome Eddy, you are quite a ways away from me but thats all good. May we see some pics of your crops that are arent so new. Looks awesome though!

 

[Tom]

I am curious. What kind of weather you get there compared to lets say France or Australia. What kind do you have planted?

 

[gonzo46307]

Welcome...

Peace,
Bob

 

[Wine-O]

Wow, that looks so cool. I wish you all the best of luck doing what I wish I was doing! Look forward to seeing your progress.

 

[St Allie]

Hello Eddy and welcome to the forum,

Your property is amazing, fabulous views too.. looking forward to seeing photos of the winery and your labels.

Allie

 

[Skyhawk]

I am curious. What kind of weather you get there compared to lets say France or Australia. What kind do you have planted?

Tom, you might find this very interesting:

Lebanese wine industry

Looks like Lebanon is the origin!

 

[eddy]

Thx for the warm welcome guys

Welcome Eddy, you are quite a ways away from me but thats all good. May we see some pics of your crops that are arent so new. Looks awesome though!

Definitely! Here are a few:

some of our older vines (4 yrs old):

Our fermentation tanks (5000 L each):

About a quarter of our 2008 bottles, right after bottling:

I am curious. What kind of weather you get there compared to lets say France or Australia. What kind do you have planted?

Lebanon's weather is mediterranean, perfectly suited for vitis vinifera! We get great sunshine without rainfall for 7-8 months of the year, and the bekaa valley (where most of lebanon's vineyards are located) starts at at altitude of 800m, with rocky soils.. all very good conditions for growing vines.

we started with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and syrah, since we want to produce a bordeaux-style wine.

we plan to export to the US as our primary market, since the lebanese market is quite small (population of 4m).. so hopefully you guys will get to try our wine We probably won't begin exporting until 2011 though, since our 2009 vintage, which is the first we plan to bring to market, needs to age

 

[eddy]

Thx for the warm welcome guys I had posted a reply yesterday but it doesn't seem to have posted! Tc