When you look at the geography, it actually makes complete sense. The mountains, the altitude, the climate, the ancient history of the land. Winemaking in Lebanon goes back thousands of years. And yet it tends to surprise people, which means there is still something genuinely exciting about arriving at a place like Ixsir and realising the region is producing wines that hold up against anywhere in the world.
For us there was an extra layer to it. Two of Uva's co-founders, Christine and Jeffrey, are Lebanese. Coming back to discover your roots through wine and through a place like this is a particular kind of pleasure. It is not something you can fully plan for. You just find yourself sitting at a table in the hills above Batroun, looking out over a vineyard, and it feels right in a way that is hard to explain.
The climb inland from the coast — olive trees, wildflowers, and the Mediterranean at your back the whole way.
The drive up from Beirut sets the tone before you even arrive. You follow the coast north, the Mediterranean sitting right beside you the whole way, and then you turn inland toward Batroun and climb into the hills. By the time you reach the estate you are already in a good mood.
Ixsir is beautiful without announcing it. A long stone staircase lined with herbs and wildflowers leads up to the entrance, old olive trees everywhere, a 17th-century stone house sitting at the heart of it all. The kind of place that feels like it has always been there, because it has.
We were a group of six or seven, and the tasting was generous. Genuinely generous, the kind where you realise fairly quickly that pacing yourself is going to require actual discipline. We were with people we love, it was warm, the wine was good. We did not pace ourselves particularly well, and nobody minded.
Lunch was a proper sit-down on the terrace overlooking the vineyard. Lebanese mezze, all of it fresh and really well done. Warm bread, labneh, salads, merguez, vine leaves. The kind of spread where you keep reaching across the table and the conversation takes care of itself.
Worth knowing if you visit: the vineyard you can see from the terrace is the estate vineyard just outside Batroun, but it is not where all the grapes come from. Ixsir sources across Lebanon, from Batroun in the north to Jezzine in the south and the Bekaa Valley in the east. What is in the bottle is a much wider story than the view in front of you suggests.
The estate vineyard outside Batroun — though what's in the bottle draws on a much wider map of Lebanon.
White
Grande Réserve 2024
Fresh and bright. The one that got refilled most at the table, which is probably the best review you can give a wine over lunch.
Red
Grande Réserve 2018
More serious, more patient. Worth slowing down for, which is easy to do when you have nowhere else to be and a vineyard in front of you.
That is the thing about a place like this. You come wanting to learn about the wine, and you do. But mostly what you leave with is the feeling of the afternoon. The setting, the food, the people around the table. It all adds up to something that is greater than any one part of it.
If you are heading to Batroun, book Ixsir in advance and give yourself the whole afternoon. The drive alone is worth it.