Perched in the eastern foothills of Mount Lebanon, Château Khoury is the work of owner and winemaker Jean-Paul El Khoury, a property that captures everything Lebanese wine can be when expertise meets land worth respecting.
The Terroir
Château Khoury sits in the Zahlé region, in the eastern foothills of Mount Lebanon, at an altitude of 1,300 meters, with panoramic views over the Bekaa Valley, Mount Hermon, and the city of Zahlé. The vines stretch across a natural slope facing south, and the whole estate is certified organic, no shortcuts, just the land doing what it does best. That altitude matters too: the height keeps the vineyard cooler than the Bekaa Valley floor through the hot summer months, with day-to-night temperature swings that can reach 20 degrees.
That same respect for the land carries through to how the estate operates: everything is recycled, and the goal is zero waste from vineyard to bottle.
The Craft & Quality
The estate's red varieties lean on the classics: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc. But what sets Château Khoury apart is its Alsatian thread. It is among the first producers in Lebanon to plant Alsace varieties: Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Gewürztraminer, and Riesling, a move inspired by Madame El Khoury's own Alsace heritage. It's a rare combination in the Bekaa Valley, and it gives the white and rosé wines a character you won't find at many neighboring estates.
Jean-Paul brings formal training from the University of Reims in Champagne to the estate, and it shows: these are wines made with precision, but never at the cost of personality.
The Story
Before it ever grew a vine, this land carried a very different weight. During the civil war, it was occupied by the Syrian army, who installed cannons there used to shell Zahlé below. Raymond and Brigitte El Khoury chose to turn that history into something life-giving instead, planting the first vines in 1995 on land that had sat abandoned since the war ended. The winery was built in 2002, with the first vinification following in 2004. Their son Jean-Paul studied oenology in Reims before returning home to bring what he had learned across the best vineyards of France back to his parents' estate. Today, he's the one pouring the wine, telling the story, and carrying the family forward.
At Wine for Everyone, my mission is to discover Lebanese wine one winery at a time, completely stress-free. Château Khoury is proof that you don't need to chase the famous names to find something worth pouring. Sometimes it's a south-facing slope, an organic philosophy, and a winemaker who still does it all himself.
