Tag: red wine

Lebanese Wine Review: A Red Wine by Couvent Rouge

Lebanese Wines: Al Dayaa 2014 by Couvent Rouge

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Name: Al Dayaa 2014 by Couvent Rouge
Type: Red Wine
Grapes: Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon
Year: 2014
Country: Lebanon
Region: Deir El Ahmar, Bekaa Valley
Date Consumed: February 2, 2025

An interesting discovery. This is good quality wine, and I’m happy that I tried it.

I bought it a while ago from a small mouneh shop located near the Monastery of Saint Maron in Aannaya. They had a selection of wine, and I just picked the one I was unfamiliar with. (You know me. I’m on a mission to try every red wine made in Lebanon.)

I uncorked the bottle on Sunday when we were having dinner with the family in an Airbnb apartment in Faqra. And all those who tried it liked it. It’s a smooth, easy-to-drink wine with notes of ripe red fruits and tiny hints of tomato and tobacco.

Unfortunately, since it isn’t really one of the famous wines of Lebanon, I couldn’t find anything about it on the internet. However, I got enough information about the bottle from the label — it mentions the name of the grapes used (Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo) and where it was bottled.

It was bottled in Couvent Rouge, and I’ve tried one of their wines before.

Review of the Chateau St Thomas Pinot Noir from Lebanon

Lebanese Wines: Chateau St Thomas Pinot Noir 2018

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Name: Chateau St Thomas Pinot Noir 2018
Type: Red Wine
Grapes: Pinot Noir
Year: 2018
Country: Lebanon
Region: Bekaa Valley
Date Consumed: December 8, 2024

A dry, medium-bodied, ruby-colored wine with balanced tannins. This bottle of Chateau St Thomas Pinot Noir spent a year collecting dust on my shelf along with other wines I didn’t manage to consume last winter. I finally uncorked it on Sunday during lunch to pair it with baked white fish. The wine was smooth, and the pairing was successful. I got nice flavors of red fruits, prunes, tobacco, oak, and mild spices. The Chateau St Thomas Pinot Noir can be a good option for cheese and wine nights, too. It’s a stellar wine — very easy to drink, very easy to like, worth a try, worth the price. Overall, I’d give it an 86/100.

Review of the Lebanese Wine Chateau Heritage Cabernet Franc

Lebanese Wines: Chateau Heritage Cabernet Franc 2023

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Name: Chateau Heritage Cabernet Franc 2023
Type: Red Wine
Grapes: Cabernet Franc
Year: 2023
Country: Lebanon
Region: Bekaa Valley
Date Consumed: November 30, 2024

A medium-to-full-bodied wine with assertive tannins and notes of black cherry, raspberry, and green capsicum.

My wife and I took this bottle to a getaway in the mountains and uncorked it a couple of hours before dinner. We were a little surprised that it tasted this good. The Chateau Heritage Cabernet Franc is an affordable bottle that tastes more expensive than its price tag. We enjoyed every sip. It was a cold night, and the wine kept us warm.

I’d age this bottle of garnet-colored pleasure three to five years, and I’d pair it with a good steak and a Nicaraguan cigar.