The character of Batroun Mountains wine is cultivated by the thoughtfulness of each element of its creation.
Batroun Mountains is a family owned and operated winerydedicated to crafting wines that reflect the values of the Hark family.
The vineyards are located in the mountains of Batroun District in six different towns on altitudes from 400 to 1500 meters above sea level.
Batroun, a coastal city, is fifty kilometers north of Beirut and 29 km south of Tripoli
Growing grapes in the mountains is challenging due to the rocky nature of the fields, and labor intensive mainly because grapes are grown on narrow terraced vineyards.
Terraces need continuous maintenance and repairs, and maneuverability of equipment like tractor and shredder are limited. Vines struggle in this dry, well-drained stony soil, producing superior quality grapes of well-concentrated juice with intense flavor and color. This struggle is what makes the grapes and the wines dynamic.
At Batroun Mountains, the family focuses on each step of the winemaking process, believing that a quality bottle of wine is made in the vineyard and not in the winery. The grapes in each of the six Batroun Mountains vineyards are carefully selected from the finest quality estate grown organically certified grapes, in order to guarantee the excellence of the final product. Batroun Mountains winery is a family adventure, where each individual has a role in either the growing, producing, bottling or marketing stages of winemaking.
The individual effort of each member of the family reflects their common goal of care and value in the craft.
The mountainous region of Batroun District hugs the northwestern coast of Lebanon and continues east into the mountains. At elevations ranging from sea level to 2000 meters, the air transitions from the salty taste of the sea to the cool and fresh crispness of the mountains. Winding roads sneak through the ridges and valleys, as if disguising secrets of the landscape from the visitors.
The vineyards of Batroun Mountains line the hillside, on meticulously designed terraces to give maximum sunlight exposure to the grapes. Olive trees sway as the vines reach for support, for each other, for the sky. Each element of the landscape adds personality to the bottle of wine. When opening a bottle of Batroun Mountains wine there is the taste and smell of the mountain cool, the secrets of the hillside, the struggle of the vine, a neighboring olive branch and the faintest hint of sea below. Each bottle tells a story.
Superior wines are made only from superior grapes, there is no secrets or magic, and therefore the majority of time and energy is spent in caring for the vines.
The goal of Batroun Mountains is to grow naturally healthy and prosperous plants while caring for the environment. And following this practice year after year, we have earned our certification from IMC Italy for 100% organically grown grapes. The passion for grape growing comes from a genuine passion for the homeland; the homeland is where the roots of the family ancestors run very deep. The Hark family took their love of Batroun and used this as the inspiration for their vineyard. By individually designing the terraced fields to deter soil erosion, and by shredding and recycling all trimmed woods back into the soil, and using only organically certified fertilizer and by spraying only organically approved solutions.
Our long standing vision has been to bypass the usual admin dashboard structure, and move forward with a more sophisticated yet simple framework that would create a credible impact on the many conventional dashboard users.
No herbicides ever; weeds are controlled by planting selected competing weeds. The grapes are grown without irrigations; the vines rely only on the water content of the soil from the previous rainy season and are enhanced by the shredded trimmings/or mulch and organic fertilizers creating a virtual blanket for the topsoil. This mountainous region of Western Lebanon provides an ideal climate for growing grapes, dry and cool nights, moderately warm days even in the hottest days of the summer, in contrary to the Bekaa valley growing region where the grapes get cooked in the heat of July and August months.
As a family enterprise, Batroun Mountains displays a commitment to sustainability, always thinking of preserving the land and making choices to positively effect the next generation. The grapes harvests at the end of the summer (September/October) are an essential part of the process. The harvest at Batroun Mountains is a hand selection process, involving the whole family and a team of well-trained workers.
Great care is put into pre-picking for select bunches early in the harvest, followed by a selective harvest of premium bunches for fermentation. Since quality is the principle element of winemaking at Batroun Mountains there is an exclusive focus on quality. On average 1.2kg (2.65lb) of grapes are harvested per vine, yielding a product as exclusive as some of the most prestigious wine producers.
We believe in the gentle process of traditional winemaking
This process is about the combination of maintaining ideal conditions for fermentation, while minimizing human interference. It all starts with hand selected superior grapes. Red grapes are de-stemmed and fermented with the skin and seeds then pressed for red wine, followed by the natural process of spontaneous Mal-o-Lactic fermentation turning malic acid into lactic acid, and for the natural precipitation of wine impurities into sediments.
During the first eighteen months, red wine is racked several time to remove its sediments from the bottom of the tank and to achieve the desired clarity, ultimately avoiding filtration and to ensure the wholesomeness of its entire constituents. Red wine is aged in small oak barrels to gain roundness and finesse, and to benefit from the micro-oxygenation process aiding the color stabilization, and wood tannin extraction gaining the ability to age in the bottle.
White grapes are de-stemmed and pressed, and the juice is chilled and clarified then fermented. The obtained white wine undergoes two main processes for protein stabilization and cold stabilization, and finally double filtered to obtain a crystal clear polished nectar.
The desired quality of the final bottle is personally determined by the Hark family, who has a deep understanding of the quality desired in their final product. The family keeps in mind that wine is a living product, and each bottle evolves throughout the wine making process.
Winemaking is a cyclical process, which begins with the vines as soon as they start to grow. They are nurtured in an environment of selected variables, such as the other vegetation near by, the decomposing organic matter of shredder vine branches and organic fertilizers that feed the micro-biology of the soil and to guide the vines through their growth.
At the end of the summer when the grapes are picked the cycle continues in the field and in the winery. Vines are trimmed and soil is treated to prepare for the next growing season. The grapes continue their journey to de-stemming and fermentation and eventually bottling and enjoying the wine itself.
Batroun Mountain wine is an exclusive product because of the focus on quality rather than producing a large quantity
Selecting a bottle of wine to pair with a meal, or understanding ones personal taste in wine is an individual and intimate process. Batroun Mountains respects this process by offering five varieties of reds, three whites and one rosé wines as well as arak and liquor to satisfy each individual’s needs and tastes.
Batroun Mountains offers an exceptional quality but limited volume of bottles available for purchase every year. This elite selection of wines captures the terroir of the Batroun Mountains as well as tells the story of the family adventure that is the Batroun Mountain Winery.