Vieilles Vignes Carignan 2020 75cl

Established as the first Wine company in Lebanon, François-Eugène Brun, originally from France fell in love with the Bekka Valley and set up his winery in 1868. Françoise-Eugène was recruited first for in charge of the Beirut-Damascus road by a French company, then progressed to Arak, a spirit with aniseed, and winemaking, thus Domaine Des Tourelles was created. From there, three more generations continued the passion for wine in Lebanon, and now, more than 150 years later, it is run by the Issa & Issa el Khoury families, Lebanon’s youngest winemaking family now running the countries oldest winery! The vineyards are located 1.050 m, (3,445) above sea level in the Western Bekaa Valley, close to the border of Syria. Domaine des Tourelles has nearly 50 ha of vineyards, most of which are in the village of Ammik in Western Bekaa, with two other plots in the central valley. The vines are mostly free-standing, with a few trellised vineyards, being the oldest vines in the valley, up to 70 years, giving an extremely low yield. These vines are at some of the highest altitudes for vineyards in the Northern hemisphere, and being a dry climate with plenty of sunshine, fungal disease is a distant threat, and the grapes are all grown organically. The terrain is iron-rich gravel and sub-soils with clay and limestone. The grapes are harvested manually, and the grow a range of varieties. In the Vielles Vignes Carignan, the grapes are 100% carignon, and are from vines that are at least 50 years old.