The wines of Château Ksara, Lebanon
Website: https://chateauksara.com/
Lebanon is making some pretty interesting wines at the moment. As well as old favourite Musar, there’s the likes of Tourelles, newcomer Ixsir, Massaya, Kefraya, natural star Mersel and this winery – Ksara.
Château Ksara are in fact the country’s oldest winery, dating back to 1857 when they were founded by Jesuit priests. The Jesuits ran the winery until 1973, at which stage it was making 1.5 million bottles. In 1898 they discovered two kilometres of Roman tunnels that became ideal space for cellaring wines.
Now, as well as being the oldest winery in Lebanon, they are also the largest. Their vineyards, in the Bekaa Valley, range in altitude from 1200-1800 m. I tasted these wines at Wine Paris in February 2025, and I’ve also included below an article from 2020 looking at the range.
THE WINES
Château Ksara Merweh 2025 Lebanon
This is made from a 110 year old vineyard at 1600 m which has been maintained by layering vines to fill in gaps. Fermented and matured in concrete vats. Bright, linear, lemony and pure with nice taut mineral character and some fine spicy detail. 92/100
Château Ksara Blanc de Blancs 2025 Lebanon
55% Sauvignon Blanc, 25% Chardonnay (in oak), 20% Semillon. Fresh and ine with nice purity, and a bit of oak adding some volume. Nice freshness and tension here. 90/100
Château Ksara Blanc de L’Observatoire 2025 Lebanon
Named after the observatory built on the winery by the monks in 1902. A blend of Obadieh (45%), Muscat (25%), Clairette (30%). Lovely aromatics here: fresh, linear and pure with some grapey detail. Juicy with fine spices on the finish, showing really good balance. 91/100
Château Ksara Le Prieuré 2022 Lebanon
A blend of Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache and Mourvèdre, aged in concrete. Supple and pure with nice drinkability and notes of cherry and strawberry. Fresh and well balanced, but fully ripe. 92/100
Château Ksara Reserve du Couvent 2023 Lebanon
60% Syrah, 30% Cabernet Franc and 10% Malbec. Supple and fresh with lovely drinkability, showing fresh red cherries. Juicy and fruity in style with some grip. Tannins are nicely resolved. 93/100
Château Ksara Old Vine Carignan 2023 Lebanon
13% alcohol. From bush vines planted in 1961 on terraces at 1400 m. No oak. Juicy, bright and vivid with lovely cherry and plum fruit, as well as a bit of grip. Nice intensity here with good acidity and some grippy tannin. 93/100
Château Ksara Cabernet Sauvignon Cuvée Speciale 2021 Lebanon
Single vineyard. Classic style with good structure under the blackcurrant fruit with some raspberry brightness. Finishes tannic. 93/100
Château Ksara ‘Chateau’ 2020 Lebanon
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot. 14 months in oak. Stylish with some well integrated oak, nice tannic structure and good balance. Rich and fruit-driven but with nice tannins adding depth. 93/100
Château Ksara Cuvée de Troisième Millénaire 2022 Lebanon
40% Petit Verdot, 30% Syrah, 30% Cabernet Franc. Dense, complex and structured with vivid blackcurrant and blackberry fruit, showing firm tannins. Lots of wine here, and nicely structured. 94/100
Château Ksara Le Souverain 2020 Lebanon
This is a blend of Arinarnoa (a cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat) and Marselan (a cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache) that spends 2 years in new oak. Bold, rich and chunky, with firm tannins under the spicy black fruits, with well integrated oak. Dense and bold. 93/100
Château Ksara Moscatel NV Lebanon
This is 30 Muscat de Frontignan, 30% Muscat d’Alexandrie and 40% Gewurztraminer. It’s a Vin Doux Natural style with alcohol added after fermentation starts, resulting in a wine with 17.5% alcohol and 80 g/l sugar. Powerful, intense and vivid with some grip and a touch of ginger. Grapey and intense, finishing fresh. 90/100
Older notes from December 2020
Château Ksara Blanc de Blancs 2018 Lebanon
13% alcohol. This is Sauvignon, Semillon and Chardonnay. It’s quite intense with a savoury, slightly oily, nutty edge to the pear and white peach fruit, and has a touch of marzipan on the finish. Quite full flavoured, with a touch of cedar spice, too. 87/100 (£13 Whole Foods, Wapping Wines)
Château Ksara Blanc de L’Observatoire 2018 Lebanon
13% alcohol. Named after the observatory built on the winery by the monks in 1902. A blend of Obadie, Muscat, Clairette and Sauvignon. It’s fresh and zippy with bright citrussy fruit and a bit of pithiness. Juicy and vital, with nice focused fruit. Good acidity. 88/100
Château Ksara Merwah 2018 Lebanon
12.5% alcohol. This is from old vines of the local Merwah variety. Very fresh, lemony and precise with grapefruit and herb notes. Has nice fruit and a touch of pithiness, as well as subtle salty notes. Crisp and focused with good acidity, but perhaps a little compressed? 89/100 (£15 Wapping Wines, Whole Foods)
Château Ksara Sunset Rosé 2017 Lebanon
13.5% alcohol. This is textural and smooth in the mouth, with fresh cherry and redcurrant notes as well as a hint of sweetness, rounding things off nicely. This has good concentration of flavour, with nice sweet fruit and a dry, stony finish. 88/100 (£13.99 Novel Wines)
Châterau Ksara Gris de Gris 2018 Lebanon
13.5% alcohol. An attractive, grown-up sort of rosé that’s dry with a nice grainy, savoury undercurrent to the cherry and pear fruit, with a hint of watermelon. It’s a blend of the Grenache Gris and Carignan grape varieties, and the balance is really nice, with freshness as well as plenty of flavour. 90/100 (£13.50 Whole Foods, Strictly Wine)
Château Ksara Reserve de Couvent 2017 Lebanon
13.5% alcohol. A blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. It’s fresh and floral with some savoury leather, spice and dried herb character under the lush, smooth cherry and plum fruit. Has a supple, rounded mid-palate with some liqueur-like fruit, and finishes with a subtle savoury, meaty, spicy flourish, and some tannic structure. Lots of interest here. 90/100 (£14 Theatre of Wine, Whole Foods, Wapping Wines)
Château Ksara Reserve du Couvent 2017 Lebanon
13.5% alcohol. Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Deeply coloured, this has an enticing nose of spice, sweet blackberry fruit and some dried herbs. It’s exotic and spicy. The palate is dense and spicy with good structure and some oaky notes, with a firmness under the dense fruit. It’s peppery, meaty and quite intense, finishing dry and grippy. A distinctive, bold wine. 90/100 (this is an earlier note from July 2020)
Château Ksara Chateau 2016 Lebanon
13.5% alcohol. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot. This is concentrated and dense with sweet blackcurrant fruit, some grippy, slightly drying tannins, and subtle notes of gravel and tar. It’s a wine that combines ripe fruit (but not over-ripe) with substantial structure: it reminds me a bit of a super-Tuscan. Impressive stuff, with lots of oomph and concentration. 92/100 (£20 Wapping Wines, Wholefoods)
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