Château Massaya Terrasses de Baalbeck 2019

Sami and Ramzi Ghosn’s parents abandoned the family farm in the Bekaar Valley during the Lebanese Civil War and fled to America. The brothers returned in the early 1990’s to breathe life into their old estate grubbing up the table grapes to replant with vines. Massaya today is a joint venture between the Ghosn brothers and the Brunier brothers, Frederic and Daniel of Le Vieux Telegraphe in Chateauneuf and Dominique Hebrard ex owner of Ch. Cheval Blanc.

This wine comes from family land on nearby Mount Lebanon, experimenting with vineyards at an altitude in excess of 1000 metresup in the Hadath Baalbeck area. The 20 year old vines, Grenache 40%, Syrah 30% and Mouvedre 30% are planted in a chalky clay soil, the fruit is returned to the Bekaar winery for 20-30 day fermentation in oak vats, then further aging for 20 months in large oak vats. This new vintage is the best I've tried, ripe gamey spicy cherries and black berries on the nose and palate with a good structure of ripe tannins and a mineral core, drinking well but will improve with age.