Lebanon is perhaps the oldest of the Old World countries, nestled at the eastern extremity of the Mediterranean, bordered by Syria to the north and east, and Israel to the south. Scholars are confident that the early Lebanese created the vine and viticulture around 7000BC in the region, though it was between 3000BC and 330BC that Phoenicia made the region’s wines notable through their export to Egypt, Cyprus, Greece and Rome as well as what is now Sardinia and Spain. The wine was so revered as to be immortalised in the hieroglyphs of Egyptian tombs.
Lebanon produces around 8 million bottles per year, the majority of which comes from the Western Bekaa Valley and the hills above Zahle, but some producers are now experimenting with new terroir – notably in Batroun and Jezzine, as well as areas in the Eastern Bekaa. There are nearly 40 wineries in Lebanon using over 25 different international and local grape varieties in just over 2,000 hectares.
You can read more about wine in Lebanon on our previous blog post, which also includes a video documentary of wine production and history in the Bekaa valley.
Use the links below to discover more about our producers or browse our interactive Wine Atlas below for all our producers.