11 June 2005

Getting onto the Chateau Musar stand at London International Wine and Spirits Fair last month was like trying to get a seat on the last helicopter out of Saigon, such was the crush. There were bigger and shinier corporate displays, courtesy of the major "new world" producers from California, Chile and Argentina. But it was Musar's modest booth, sited in an unfashionable corner of the exhibition hall, that generated a special bubble of excitement, as owner Serge Hochar's legion of British fans came to pay homage.

The British love Hochar. A charming underdog, he is their kind of chap. In 1975, his hand forced by civil war, he realized that the future of his winery, started by his father in 1930, lay in exporting to a world that had heard neither of him nor of Lebanese wines. Setting up in London, his 1967 vintage caused a stir at the Bristol wine fair of 1979. This allowed Hochar to build a cult following (his wines have for a long time been listed among the greatest in the world), while risking life and limb during wartime to transport his grapes from the Bekaa Valley to his winery in Ghazir, before shipping his wines overseas. In 15 years of war, he missed only two harvests. His bravery and devotion to duty made him the darling of the international wine community, who had no hesitation in naming him Decanter magazine's first Man of the Year in 1884.

Today, Hochar is president of the Union Vinicole du Liban (UVL), Lebanon's association of wine makers. He and Lebanon's 15 other producers believe that more effort should be made to develop Lebanon's most high-profile export. They also argue that wine can play a crucial role in national image building. As well as representing a viable and potentially lucrative agro-industry, wine is also a symbol of culture, civilization and good living.

Lebanon produces nearly 7 million bottles per year. By global standards, this is just a blip. Consider that Lebanon would have to produce 80 million bottles to reach 1 percent of France's output today. However, the trajectory of Lebanese wine has been impressive since the mid-1990s, as the country has raced to catch up with the new world revolution. What Lebanon makes is very good, and there is no reason why, with the right marketing, smart pricing, robust government support and a modicum of cooperation between producers, the country should not be able to punch above its weight and successfully sell its limited quantities to devoted quaffers the world over; the ultimate boutique wine from the ultimate boutique nation.

In the Bekaa and in other parts of the country, new wineries are opening at the rate of one a year. For example, this year Akram Kassatly, owner of Kassatly Chtaura, will make his first wine, Chateau Makse, Lebanon's 12th postwar winery. Meanwhile, the landscape of many towns, particularly in the Bekaa, is changing as demand for good terroir increases.

Meanwhile, there have long been plans for a much-needed National Wine Institute, one that, in collaboration with the government, would be responsible for all areas of grape growing and wine production - viticulture, viniculture, legal issues, commercial concerns, quality control and analysis, as well as the eventual creation of a system similar to, and inspired by, the French "appellation d'origine controllee."

The next step should be a national and international media campaign. Locally, it could emphasize the quality of Lebanese wines, educate the drinker as to the health benefits, and stress the economic importance of buying Lebanese. A bigger budget might allow for an international campaign. This would help woo a different class of tourist, raise Lebanon's profile as a wine producing area, explain what is special about Lebanon, its terroir and its indigenous grapes, as well as promote the personalities in Lebanese winemaking, many of whom, like Hochar, Michel de Bustros of Chateau Kefraya and the Ghosn brothers of Massaya, are highly marketable.

It would appear then that all the angles - commercial, industrial, agricultural, regulatory and legal - have been covered, but in reality we are still some way from achieving vinicultural Eden. Hochar has said that the UVL could never afford such a full-on marketing initiative and that it was never the role of the association to get one off the ground. Such a scheme would require state funding, perhaps via the future National Wine Institute.

Viticulturally, in other words with respect to the grape growing process itself, there must also be a degree of regulation. Lebanese wine has improved dramatically since the mid-1990s. Producers are working with a wider range of grapes, but they admit there is still much to learn. There should be joint UVL and government-sponsored strategic planting of clones and rootstock, selected according to the needs of the Bekaa's individual terroirs and, where necessary, irrigation. Such a program would involve a comprehensive study of all of Lebanon's terroir and support of the future National Wine Institute. However, if successfully executed, it would paint a more detailed picture of Lebanon's viticultural potential and produce better results in the bottle.

Furthermore, planting, like in France, should eventually be controlled according to demand. Unchecked expansion will eventually affect the price and standard of grapes and threaten the quality of future vintages.

But all this is meaningless while the national institute is still a work in progress, impeded as it is by political and religious sensitivities when wine policy is discussed in Parliament, and by the government's failure, or refusal, to recognize the potential in wine. Things might have been different had the Office International de la Vigne et du Vin held its annual congress in Beirut, as it planned to do this month. But last year the wine world's leading organization suddenly announced it was changing venue. No satisfactory explanation was offered, causing much harrumphing among the minor UVL members. But in retrospect it was an astute move given recent political events. Nonetheless, the congress would have had a profound effect, especially abroad, on the reputation, export potential and brand equity of Lebanon and its wine.

Ultimately, promoting Lebanese wine promotes Lebanon. Chile, Argentina and South Africa, previously considered beyond the pale, are now sexier through their wines. Once-repressive regimes have been replaced by images of rolling vineyards, summer dining and beautiful people. Wine can wash away a lot of bad memories.

Michael Karam, the editor of Executive magazine, is a wine writer who contributes to the "Wine Report" and the "Oxford Companion to Wine." His book, "Wines of Lebanon," will be published in July by Saqi books. He wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR.