£12.99–£15, All About Wine, Strictly Wine, Corking Wines, Whole Foods, Harrods, Handford Wines
Unless you've had this wine before, I can confidently say that you've never drunk a Merwah. Château Ksara, Lebanon's oldest and largest winery, is the first to release a wine made entirely from this centuries-old, indigenous white grape variety (it's been suggested that it could be a local clone of Sémillon but without DNA testing there's no way of knowing).
Ksara's Merwah vines are 60 years old, on pre-phylloxera rootstock and in a terraced vineyard lying at 1500m in the north of the country in the village of Douma. The wine is unoaked and has fresh, delicately floral, citrus, spice and almond patisserie aromas, preserved lemon and melon flavours and a supple, rounded texture (a textural echo there of Sémillon...) – all in all, very attractive.
It's ideal as an aperitif but also makes a match for simply prepared fish and seafood, gougères, or vegetarian mezze dishes such as falafel, fattoush and hummus. 12.5%.
Château Ksara Merwah 2017, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon
£12.99–£15, All About Wine, Strictly Wine, Corking Wines, Whole Foods, Harrods, Handford Wines