Tag: wine review

Reviewing the Lebanese wine by Ardoum called the Red Four

Lebanese Wines: Ardoum The Red Four 2020

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Name: Ardoum The Red Four 2020
Type: Red Wine
Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Grenache, Merlot
Year: 2020
Country: Lebanon
Region: Mount Lebanon
Date Consumed: October 7, 2025

I brought a 1.2 kg eye of round home with me yesterday, and I decided to make a braised roast. For that, I needed a good red wine. If you know me, you’d know that I no longer use “cooking wine” to cook. If it isn’t a wine I can drink, then I won’t allow my food to drink it either. I’m the one eating the food that’s been cooked with that wine, after all… And so, that’s how I ended up uncorking the award-winning blend by Ardoum called The Red Four. (Obviously, it’s called The Red Four because it’s made of four grapes: cabernet sauvignon, syrah, grenache, and merlot.)

Ardoum’s The Red Four 2020, once poured in the glass, displayed a lovely ruby dress. Full-bodied with supple tannins, I got notes of ripe black and red fruits and hints of tobacco, spices, and a tiny bit of leather.

Overall, this wine was much better than what I remembered it to be, even better than their Cabernet Sauvignon 2018.

While we’re here, and since I got so much pleasure out of The Red Four 2020 last night, allow me to also share a quote from a book I’m reading now — Dialectic of Enlightenment by Theodor Adorno & Max Horkheimer:

Pleasure is, so to speak, nature’s vengeance.

Review of the Lebanese wine Massaya Le Colombier by a Lebanese connoisseur, or, more precisely, a dilettante

Lebanese Wines: Massaya Le Colombier 2020

Chris KhatschLeave a comment

Name: Massaya Le Colombier 2020
Type: Red Wine
Grapes: Grenache Noir, Cinsault, Tempranillo
Year: 2020
Country: Lebanon
Region: Bekaa Valley
Date Consumed: October 3, 2025

Young, balanced, and affordable. Massaya’s Le Colombier is amalgamation of red fruits, strawberry lollipop, and spices. It’s a smooth wine and is imbibed so easily that the bottle empties a little too quickly. One bottle isn’t enough for two, and two bottles is a little too much. Therefore, I suggest you do whatever you like with this information to derive maximum pleasure.

This wasn’t the first time I try Massaya’s Le Colombier, but it’s the first time I truly appreciate it. It’s one of those affordable, entry-level Lebanese red wines that everyone must try.

Review of the Lebanese Wine called Musar Jeune Rouge

Lebanese Wines: Chateau Musar Jeune Red 2020

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Name: Chateau Musar Jeune Red 2020
Type: Red Wine
Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault, Syrah
Year: 2020
Country: Lebanon
Region: Bekaa Valley
Date Consumed: May 4, 2025

If you’ve never tried a Lebanese wine before and you make the Chateau Musar Jeune your first, I’d consider it a good start.

Here we have a full-bodied blend with strong tannins and notes of black fruits, cassis, olive oil, and spices. It’s a wine with a strong personality. Every sip is as assertive as the one preceding it, almost as if one is pushed to turn his sips into swigs. And then, by the time the second glass is emptied, one can taste in every swig the promise that the next one will be richer, fuller, and much more satisfying.

A warning, then: When one bottle is uncorked, many bottles may follow. So, when you open a Chateau Musar Jeune, make sure that you have a second one on the bench… just in case.