Today I’m tasting a bottle from the tiny wine-producing country of Lebanon. I was lucky to have a chance to try many of Ana Beirut’s Bekaa Valley wines at a Wine Authority event in December.
The Assyrtico was my favorite pour from the lineup. It checks some of my favorite boxes for a white wine: High-acid with honeyed, floral and peachy aromatics and a clean mineral finish. It’s meant to drink young, so drink it we shall!
Assyrtico (spelled Assyrtiko in Greece) is most closely associated with the Greek isle of Santorini. It can produce fragrant, slate-y wines of great complexity. Preferring hot and dry climates, strong winds, and cool nights, Assyrtico also thrives in the sunny, elevated valley and slopes of Mount Lebanon.
The influence of French winemaking on Lebanon means they also grow Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier, both of which play a minor role in this blend.
Ana Beirut Assyrtico is a beautifully scented dry white wine. Delicate white blossom, peaches, and ripe yellow pear waft out from the glass, along with a slightly waxy scent of honeycomb. On the palate it’s all tart apple juice and lemon/tangerine zest, with more stone fruit and a medium-ish body. The finish is mouth-watering but short. It’s crisp and flinty with a fleeting whiff of citrus blossom and jasmine.
This is a very pleasant, easy-drinking bottle whose taste doesn’t quite live up to the promise of its luscious floral bouquet. Still, this Assyrtico blend is competitively priced and a delicious apertif. It’s a gem of a wine from a historic wine destination I will likely never be able to visit.
Indeed, global conflict is the elephant in the room when drinking wines from the Middle East. It certainly feels strange to enjoy a luxury product grown just a short distance from the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees living in camps in the Bekaa Valley.
Lebanon’s troubles are never far from the news these days, but not surprisingly, producers prefer to focus on the country’s storied wine history. The country’s legacy of wine began around 5000 BCE with the Phoenicians and was revived in 1857 by French Jesuits. But ongoing wars and a currency collapse are currently threatening Lebanon’s fledgling boutique wine industry.
According to Wine Enthusiast, only about 10.5 million bottles are produced nationwide, and only about half of those are exported. (It sounds like a lot to me, but it’s nothing compared to the billions produced by the EU’s wine giants.) If Lebanon’s wine industry is going to grow into a world player, more people will need to discover its unique expressions of classic Mediterranean grapes.
I’m a sucker for an aromatic peaches-n-honey dry white that’s attractively priced. I would sip this all summer long with grilled vegetables, mezze spreads, and cheeses. Happily, they have it at some local wine stores and also at a Lebanese-owned pizza place in my neighborhood. Bottoms up! 🍑
Bottle: Ana Beirut Assyrtico (2023)
Variety: Assyrtico (91%), Sauvignon Blanc (5%), Viognier (4%)
ABV: 12.5%
Average retail: $18
My rating: 7.9 (out of 10)
Further reading:
Ana Beirut: Lebanese wine: Did you know?
Wine Enthusiast: A Crucial Moment in Lebanon’s 7,000-Year Wine History
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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