The Saadeh Group, which already has wine interests in Syria, is building a new winery, Terres & Vignobles, in Kefraya in the Western Bekaa. Yussef Kamel, the Saadeh Group’s vice-president for investment, refused to reveal any details of the venture, but admitted that “planting would begin very soon,” an indication that the new winery will grow its own grapes rather than buy from local growers. If this is the case, it will be at least three years before Terres & Vignobles will produce it first harvest and also means that further planting will take place in an area where wine grape growers have seen prices fall by as much as 40% over the past three years.
Still, Kamel was upbeat. “We believe that wine is a business Lebanon should leverage, given the obvious qualities of the country’s soil and weather, adding, “If there were a danger of saturation, we wouldn’t be in the business.”
The new venture comes at a time, when Lebanon’s $25 million wine industry is at a crossroads in its development. UVL (Union Vinicole du Liban) President Serge Hochar has said that the long awaited national wine institute, must, like in France, control the level of planting according to demand.
Unchecked expansion would, according to one local producer, affect the price and quality of grapes and threaten the quality of future vintages. For a country, whose only hope of competing in a fiercely competitive international market, is to create a boutique identity, this would be a disaster.
“There is a danger that such uncontrolled development – not necessarily by the Saadeh Group I must add – could damage the reputation of Lebanese wine,” he said. “The sector is now in such peril of being overwhelmed, and damaged, by unrestrained investment and unethical practices that the government and associated legislative bodies must step in to protect us.”
