Number of Lebanon vineyards has jumped from 15 to 33 in 5 years

The fertile plains of Lebanon and Syria have been producing wine for thousands of years. Only recently, though, has the tradition come back in vogue.

Today, a new crop of boutique vineyards is sprouting up and older vineyards are earning increasing critical acclaim. Meanwhile, both local and international demand for their wine is steadily growing.

“Lebanon has been making some excellent wine … The overall quality is better now than before,” Jancis Robinson, wine critic for the Financial Times newspaper, told CNN.

In the past five years, the number of vineyards in Lebanon has jumped from 15 to 33, according to Michael Karam, author of award-winning regional guide “The Wines of Lebanon.”

“Global sales from the region are picking up,” said Gaston Hochar, Managing Director of Chateau Musar, a three-generation family vineyard in Lebanon that’s just created a new range of products for Europe.

“It’s quite exciting. The trend is moving toward small producers of high quality wine, and not just in the Bekka Valley (where it has traditionally been made), but in the north by Mount Lebanon and in the south,” Karam told CNN. Source: CNN