Harvest in #Lebanon: Pinot Gris in Château Khoury

Harvest started in Lebanon with this Pinot Gris of Château Khoury

Special attention is given to the grapevine because it’s in the vineyard that the potential of a great wine is born. Careful driving performance allows the production of high quality wines.

The plantations have been made with spaced out rows of 1.8m or 2m with 1m distance between the feet and at a height of 1.3m. For pruning, the Double Guyot without bowings method is used and the vineyard is not irrigated. The yield is about 30 hl/ha, which represents less than 1.5kg of grapes per vine, thereby concentrating the flavors in the grapes.

Due to the lack of rain during the Lebanese summer, weeds are small. A single milling pass in late spring allows you to have a clean, soft ground for the rest of the year. Deep moisture is then kept at its maximum.

During the winter, the soil is ploughed twice. In July in some years, the temperature gap between day and night favors morning dew formation, making a highly virulent powdery mildew. However, using simple natural treatments with sulfur (not more than 5 per year) allows us to contain any fungus. Powdery mildew is the only threatening disease and the vineyard is free from viruses. The mildew Botrytis gray mold is absent due to the low humidity (<40%).

Today, in order to preserve the soil for future generations, the château is under organic farming, using the IMC certification warranty label.

The château’s land is the combination of natural elements that characterize the vineyard as well as the unique production methods .