Lebanon and Georgia

[PDG]

Hi guys,

I've got 1 week in Lebanon and 2 weeks in Georgia (as well as 3 weeks in Turkey) at the end of April. Has anyone been to these countries (more so Lebanon and Georgia than Turkey), and if so, do you have any recommendations about wineries to visit in either? I've obviously done research but if there any first hand accounts that would be fantastic!

Thanks heaps!

[Mahmoud Ali]

It's been a while since I've been to Turkey and I never did visit a winery there so it's difficult for me to recommend any thing.

However, Lebanon is a different matter. I was there in the summer of 2005, a year before the devastating bombing of the country by the Israelis. I wandered around the country spending two months there before heading back to Syria. Among the wineries I visited was Chateaux Musar, Kefraya, Ksara, Nakad, Clos St Tomas, and Cave Keroun de Kefraya. There was always something interesting or special at all of them and I would gladly have many of their wines in my cellar.

If you're starting in Beirut then Musar is to the north. My partner and I took local transport on the highway heading north along the coast and it is about a kilometre or two away to the right in the town and up the hill. It is a must visit as Musar is an iconic winery and famous among the cognoscenti of the wine world in a true love it or hate it style. Gaston Hochar, an excellent Ambassador for Lebanese wines died a few months ago in Mexico. According to him his white wines age better than his red and the latter ages extremely well as I can attest to from having had a bottle of the 1970 only last year.

Going east from Beirut over the mountains and into the Bekaa Valley, halfway along the highway to Damascus is the town of Chtaura. There are a few good wineries there, Nakad and Massaya, and just a wee bit to the north is Ksara, the oldest winery in the Levant founded by the priesthood in the middle of the 19th century. It has underground cellars and deep sense of history. Another important place to visit and perhaps something you could fit in as it is on the way to Baalbeck farther to the north.

Heading south from Chtaura along the western side of the Bekaa Valley you will pass Clos St Tomas, a lovely family-run winery with an eclectic selection of wines and not much farther is the pair of Kefraya and Cave Koroum de Kafraya. Chateau Kefraya is well worth a visit and is popular among the expat community for it's lovely restaurant service. Their top wines, a red and a special syrah blend were good as well a very unusual vin de liquor. My favourite at Cave Koroum was their feature red blend made from seven varietals - a fascinating and intriguing wine.

Hope all this helps and that you have a good time.

Cheers.................Mahmoud.

[ufo]

I have Turkish background and would say your chances are pretty slim finding cellar doors that do tastings in Turkey. If you really want to try Turkish wines, I would say find boutique wine shops in Istanbul, they might have something going on.

[Mahmoud Ali]

Ooh, which part of Turkey? In my two backpacking journeys I've managed to spend a total of seven months in the country. Of course I couldn't see all of it but the only major part I did not visit was the European side of the Dardanelles/Bosphorus, apart from Gallipoli and Istanbul of course.

There are probably many more and better wines available in Turkey now than before. Back then there were two wines that stuck in my memory. The first was a Kavaklidere 'Ozel Cav' that we had with a roast chicken in the seaside town of Kas. The other wine was an export wine, it had EU labelling and a German importer address on the back label. We found it in a grocery store and upon discovering how good it was in the context of Turkish wine went back and bought the remaining three bottles. We had one with a picnic lunch of bread, olives and tomatoes among the ruins of the Temple of Athena in Priene, and another bottle in ancient Aphrodisias, a similar picnic lunch sitting in the ruins of the stadium.

For those who are counting, the third bottle came home to Edmonton. It was supposed to have been drunk years ago but has so far escaped the corkscrew.

Mahmoud.

[ufo]

Ooh, which part of Turkey? In my two backpacking journeys I've managed to spend a total of seven months in the country. Of course I couldn't see all of it but the only major part I did not visit was the European side of the Dardanelles/Bosphorus, apart from Gallipoli and Istanbul of course.

There are probably many more and better wines available in Turkey now than before. Back then there were two wines that stuck in my memory. The first was a Kavaklidere 'Ozel Cav' that we had with a roast chicken in the seaside town of Kas. The other wine was an export wine, it had EU labelling and a German importer address on the back label. We found it in a grocery store and upon discovering how good it was in the context of Turkish wine went back and bought the remaining three bottles. We had one with a picnic lunch of bread, olives and tomatoes among the ruins of the Temple of Athena in Priene, and another bottle in ancient Aphrodisias, a similar picnic lunch sitting in the ruins of the stadium.

For those who are counting, the third bottle came home to Edmonton. It was supposed to have been drunk years ago but has so far escaped the corkscrew.

Mahmoud.

Hi Mahmoud,

If you read my post again, you'll see that I didn't say you will not be able to find any good wine. I said "your chances are pretty slim finding cellar doors that do tastings in Turkey"

Cheers

[Mahmoud Ali]

If you read my post again, you'll see that I didn't say you will not be able to find any good wine. I said "your chances are pretty slim finding cellar doors that do tastings in Turkey".

I think you have misunderstood my posts. In the first one I said I hadn't visited any wineries or cellar doors in Turkey. In the second post I made no mention of your post nor did I say there anything about "bad wines" - what I did say was there are probably more better wines than before and then proceeded to talk about two very memorable wines.

In my second post the only reference to your post was your comment about having a Turkish background and I asked which part of Turkey you were from.

Cheers...............Mahmoud.

PS: The only reason I wrote my second post was because you said you had Turkish ancestry. I thought you might have been interested in the wine story. Anyway on my first visit I learned that my name is written and pronounced 'Mahmut' and that's what they called me.

[PDG]

It's been a while since I've been to Turkey and I never did visit a winery there so it's difficult for me to recommend any thing.

However, Lebanon is a different matter. I was there in the summer of 2005, a year before the devastating bombing of the country by the Israelis. I wandered around the country spending two months there before heading back to Syria. Among the wineries I visited was Chateaux Musar, Kefraya, Ksara, Nakad, Clos St Tomas, and Cave Keroun de Kefraya. There was always something interesting or special at all of them and I would gladly have many of their wines in my cellar.

If you're starting in Beirut then Musar is to the north. My partner and I took local transport on the highway heading north along the coast and it is about a kilometre or two away to the right in the town and up the hill. It is a must visit as Musar is an iconic winery and famous among the cognoscenti of the wine world in a true love it or hate it style. Gaston Hochar, an excellent Ambassador for Lebanese wines died a few months ago in Mexico. According to him his white wines age better than his red and the latter ages extremely well as I can attest to from having had a bottle of the 1970 only last year.

Going east from Beirut over the mountains and into the Bekaa Valley, halfway along the highway to Damascus is the town of Chtaura. There are a few good wineries there, Nakad and Massaya, and just a wee bit to the north is Ksara, the oldest winery in the Levant founded by the priesthood in the middle of the 19th century. It has underground cellars and deep sense of history. Another important place to visit and perhaps something you could fit in as it is on the way to Baalbeck farther to the north.

Heading south from Chtaura along the western side of the Bekaa Valley you will pass Clos St Tomas, a lovely family-run winery with an eclectic selection of wines and not much farther is the pair of Kefraya and Cave Koroum de Kafraya. Chateau Kefraya is well worth a visit and is popular among the expat community for it's lovely restaurant service. Their top wines, a red and a special syrah blend were good as well a very unusual vin de liquor. My favourite at Cave Koroum was their feature red blend made from seven varietals - a fascinating and intriguing wine.

Hope all this helps and that you have a good time.

Cheers.................Mahmoud.

Hi Mahmoud,

Thanks for all of your input. I have come across most of these wineries in my travels so it's good to hear someone on here has actually been! GT Wine mag recently had an article about Lebanese wines too. I think the two I'm most looking forward to are Musar and Ksara.

Our current plan is to head north (stopping at Musar on the way) to Bcharre to visit the Cedars, Qadisha Valley and the Cave of Three Bridges. We'll then head south towards Bekaa Valley stopping at wineries on the way and visit Baalbeck (pending how the situation is with Syria at the time), and then back to Beirut. Unfortunately we only have 4 or so days to do all of this so it's a bit rushed.

Re: Turkey, there are some wineries around. We have 2 days in Cappadocia and there are wineries we intend of visiting in the area.

Looking forward to getting over there and checking out everything I've been researching on the net for what seems way too long.

Cheers
Paul