Château Ksara began life in 1857, when Jesuit brothers inherited and began farming a 25 hectare plot of land situated between Tanail and Zahleh. The brothers recognized the potential of Ksara’s terroir and convinced their superiors that it should be used to grow grapes for viniculture. They had no formal training in either viniculture or viticulture, but they were solidly educated in agriculture and the sciences and in those days that was enough. Applying what they knew, they produced Lebanon’s first “dry” red wine and in doing so, laid the foundations of Lebanon’s modern wine industry. At the end of World War I, France was mandated to govern Lebanon and before long, its military and administrative machine moved in, bringing with it thousands of French soldiers and civil servants, for whom wine was an integral part of their diet. Ksara was in a position to supply Lebanon’s new landlords. Pre-war
