Domaine de Bargylus is a wine estate on the slopes of the
Coastal Mountain Range in
Syria. These mountains, known as Mount
Bargylus in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, produced notable wines up until the rise of
Islam.
Domaine de Bargylus is managed by two brothers Karim and Sandro Saadé, with the assistance of renowned consultant
Stéphane Derenoncourt.
It has been cited by wine critic
Jancis Robinson as "arguably the finest wine of the Eastern Mediterranean".
History
The
Saadé family began works on the winery in 2003.
The first vintage was produced in 2006. The Saadé family, of
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
Christian origins, is originally from the coastal city of
Latakia, known in ancient times as
Laodicea ad Mare
Laodicea ( grc, Λαοδίκεια) was a port city and an important colonia of the Roman Empire in ancient Syria, located near the modern city of Latakia. It was also called Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad mare. For a short period of time ...
(i.e. "Laodicea-by-the-sea"). The Saadé family traces its mercantile roots to the 18th and 19th century with prominent representatives such as Gabriel Saadé (1854-1939) and
Rodolphe Saadé (1900-1956). With an initial involvement in commodities’ trading and various industries, the family developed maritime and land transport activities on the initiative of
Johnny Saadé, Rodolphe’s son, in
Syria,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
,
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
Johnny Saadé shifted his activities to the wine making, tourism and real estate fields.
The family owns another winery in Lebanon's Beqaa valley,
Château Marsyas
Château Marsyas is a vineyard located in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon. The name of the property stems from the ancient Greek name of the Bekaa valley known as the Marsyas valley in Hellenistic times.
The estate's surface area is around 600,000 s ...
.
Other members of this Latakian family are Syrian intellectual and historian Gabriel W.Saadé (1922-1997) and his niece
Leila Badre
Leila Badre (born 20 February 1943) is a Lebanese archaeologist and director of the Archaeological Museum of the American University of Beirut.
Biography
Badre was born in Beirut and attended the ''"Dames de Nazareth"'' high school there. She ob ...
, a prominent Lebanese-Syrian archaeologist.
Operations
The vineyard is situated at 990 m, facing the Mediterranean. The soil is made of limestone, with some clay. The area has high daytime variation and relatively high rainfall. Two wines both in Francophile style are being produced. The
Sauvignon Blanc and
Chardonnay grapes for the white wine, and
Cabernet Sauvignon,
Syrah, and
Merlot for the red.
In 2015, Domaine de Bargylus produced 45 thousands bottles of wine, and sold around the world.
The vineyard has been targeted by
Islamist rebels during the
Syrian civil war.
References
See also
*
Syrian wine
*
Winemaking
Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and ...
External links
Bargylus Wines Syria– winery official website
Lebanon – Sunning grapes''The first wine from the Johnny R. Saadé family was the Syrian Bargylus, whose grapes are grown on 20 hectares of land at Jebel al-Ansariyeh on the outskirts of the port city of Lattakia and which produced its first harvest in 2006.'' (archived 21 July 2015)
'Very old world' wine makes a comeback in Lebanon and Syria''CNN: Inside the Middle East'' 18 December 2009
''The New York Times'', 16 March 2012
First Syrian wine to hit UK ''Decanter.com'', 12 March 2012
''ft.com'', 21 April 2012
Syrian Vintner Carries On in a Time of War ''PRI's The World'', 7 June 2013
Top 100 Making An Impact In The Arab World', Forbes Middle-east'' (archived 3 November 2015)
''The Telegraph''
Making wine in a war zone: Syria's 'dream' vineyard ''BBC news''
How one family is keeping winemaking alive in Syria ''South China Morning Post ''
Anson on Thursday: The five bottle cure – inspiring wine stories of 2015 ''Decanter''
Determined syrian winery launches in HK ''The Drinks Business''
Vinexpo Bordeaux : Produire son vin en Syrie, une bataille au quotidien ''La Revue du Vin de France''
The most dangerous wine in the world: Incredible story of how grapes from war-torn Syria are smuggled out ''Mirror''
Wines of War ''Wine Spectator''
Fractious vintage: 'The most dangerous wine the world' ''The Irish Times''
News from the Middle East ''Financial Times''
This New Book Will Take You Around The World In Eighty Wines ''Forbes magazine''
Syrie: le vin le plus dangereux du monde(), ''Arte TV''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chateau Bargylus
Wineries of Syria
Syrian brands