Domaine Des Tourelles, Peace Grows Here 2022

Meet the Producer

Domaine des Tourelles was founded in 1868 by French adventurer François-Eugène Brun and is one of the most highly acclaimed and oldest wineries still operating in Lebanon. It was also the first commercial cellar in 'modern' Lebanon to produce wines, arak and other spirits. This place has history! The Brun family owned and ran the winery up until the last descendant died in 2003 but luckily two local families - the Issa and Issa el-Khoury families - joined forces to buy the property and continue the fine tradition of winemaking.

Today, this Bekaa Valley estate is run by the three Issa children - twins Faouzi and Johanne and their sister Christiane, alongside Emile Issa-el Khoury, son of one of the co-owners. This young and dynamic combination have introduced a handful of practices in the vineyards and cellar including the use of indigenous natural yeasts, no fining or filtering, and only very small amounts of sulphur. These techniques along with fruit from 40 hectares of ancient, organically cultivated and dry-farmed vineyards (among the oldest in the valley) and a winery perfect for hands-off winemaking, make Domaine des Tourelles one of the finest boutique wineries in the Middle East.

Each year Faouzi Issa at Domaine des Tourelles creates a one-off bottling. The 2025 edition of this is a call to peace and a demonstration, however small, that wine around the table shared between friends and family is something to cherish.

Wine is one of the really bright lights for Lebanon that puts them on the world stage and allows people to talk about Lebanon for the right reasons. The wine itself is vintage 2022 a similar blend to the flagship Domaine des Tourelles Red but made in a lighter style. Perfect therefore for summer, for barbeques and even a wine that is best ideally served ever so slightly chilled. It is not an exaggeration to say how important Tourelles is for Lebanon. They have international recognition, the winery employs 85 people (who are often the sole breadwinners) and the efforts from sales help Faouzi to feed another 600 families per month through his sister’s charity.

Deep ruby red with fantastically expressive aromas of cherries, cedar wood, rosemary and cloves. A rich savoury palate with lots of Morello cherry and blackberry flavours, some earthy spice and fine tannins. A wine packed with flavour and heritage.