Massaya Le Colombier Red wine 2020 Beqaa Valley Lebanon Famille Brunier

The domain

Massaya means “twilight” in Lebanese, this domain comes from a collaboration between the Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe located in Châteauneuf-du-Pape as well as Lebanese and Bordeaux partners. Domaine Massaya mixes the crops and grape varieties of all these regions to produce the best Lebanon has to offer.

MASSAYA’S HISTORY, LEBANESE WINE ESTATE

In the early 1970s, Michel Ghosn bought the Massaya farm in the Lebanese countryside so that his family could rest during the weekends. In 1975, the family was forced to flee their country and settle in the United States because of the civil war that ravaged Lebanon. The story resumed in the 1990s when Sami and Ramzi Ghosn returned to their country and recovered the then ruined Massaya Domain to make it a real wine estate and create a traditional distillery. The production of a high-quality arak greatly contributed to Massaya’s fame in 1998 and then in 2014, the Ghosn family opened a new cellar at altitude in order to grow white grapes and age the red wines for more freshness.

MASSAYA IN THE HEART OF BEQAA VALLEY

The Massaya vineyard is mainly located in Tanaïl in the Beqaa Valley, which mainly produces rosé and red wines as well as in Faqra, near Mount Lebanon. In this second part of the vineyard, white grape varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Clairette, Vermentino and Roussanne are grown to produce white wines. The soils of Massaya are stony and clay-limestone, its climate is characterised by strong sunshine and warm wind in the vineyard, which allows optimal ripening of the grapes. The methods of cultivation are quite traditional: the harvest is manual, the sorting of the clusters is rigorous and the vinification is carried out in wooden vats. Massaya wines also benefit from a 20-22 month ageing in lightning.

MASSAYA LEBANESE WINE

Domaine Massaya produces several cuvées, mainly red wine but also a white wine and a rosé wine. We are particularly fans of the red Massaya cuvée Le Colombier, which is a wine showing amazing freshness. Eastern spices are complemented by strawberry and cherry aromas, eucalyptus and aromatic herbs bring even more complexity. Massaya Blanc stands out in another register, while keeping the characteristic freshness and roundness of these wines. With a more pronounced oriental style, its finesse and intensity will be even more appreciable after two or three years of custody. There is also a beautiful minerality, linked to its terroir at altitude. It is said that this white wine is the pride of Lebanon and it is easy to understand why.