Atibaia Red 2016

Eighteen months in French oak: Bordeaux structure meets Mediterranean character.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Petit Verdot come together in this Lebanese red, bringing the framework of Bordeaux varieties into dialogue with Syrah’s fruit and spice. This vintage adds another dimension: time, which softens the wine’s edges and allows its aromatic profile to evolve.

Eighteen months in French oak barrels lend a woody thread to notes of ripe dark fruit, spice and tobacco. On the palate, generous substance and structuring tannins give the wine breadth, while bottle age may bring greater integration and more developed, savoury nuances.

This is a red to approach without haste. Gradual aeration should help its aromas unfold, making it a natural partner for robust cooking, where charred flavours, reduced sauces and spices echo its depth.

Atibaia is a family-run winery in Smar Jbeil, in the mountains of Batroun, northern Lebanon. Its cellar occupies a traditional 17th-century house, set among historic villages, agricultural terraces and traces of the region’s past. The estate’s five hectares of vineyards lie at elevations of 400 to 600 metres, across varied sites ranging from alluvial plateaus to gravelly, clay-rich terraces and clay-limestone soils. Hand harvesting and careful grape selection underpin an approach that combines international varieties with the conditions of Lebanon’s Mediterranean climate. Stainless-steel fermentation tanks with temperature control are used in the cellar. Atibaia’s wines reflect the character of the vineyards scattered around Batroun, shaped by an artisanal approach attentive to the details of each wine.