White wine

Domaine des Tourelles, Merweh & Obeidi 2020

UK Stockist
90
Tasted by
Adam Lechmere
Tasted in
London

The irrepressible Faouzi Issa, co-owner of Domaine des Tourelles, just loves producing things, he says (he offers as evidence the fact that he and his wife have had three children in four years – and a handful they must be). Tourelles has expanded massively in the last decade, going from around 25000 bottles to 1m today, still produced along artisan wines with natural yeast ferment. The quality hasn’t suffered, as his excellent Vieilles Vignes range shows. The Cinsault, which Tourelles launched in 2014, a fine, fresh, crisp red, was groundbreaking as one of the first Lebanese solo iterations of this workhorse grape; the Carignan is similarly fine. This Merweh and Obeidi isn’t the first of its kind in Lebanon (Chateau Ksara released a 100% Merweh in 2017) but you can guarantee Issa will make make the biggest splash with it. It’s made from grapes that can trace their lineage – the website says – back to the Phoenicians. The Merweh comes from 1,400m high vineyards to the west of the Bekaa Valley, the 100-year-old vines unpruned for decades; the Obeidi vineyards are fifty years old; both varieties are late-ripening, hardy, fully adapted to the Mediterranean climate of Lebanon. The wine is fresh, floral and spicy on the nose, concentrated on the palate with hints of pearskin, and a lovely mineral weight. It’s light and intense and a perfect vin de soif for a Sunday morning.

Drinking Window
2021 - 2023
Colour
White
Wine Style
Still
Alcohol
11%
Country
Lebanon
Region
Bekaa Valley
Bottle size
75cl
Grape Varieties
Merweh (50%)
Obeidi (50%)