Natural Wines in Lebanon
The appeal of our wine is exactly what you have just said: natural products. Our vineyards are certified organic; the grapes come to the winery and the whole process is completely natural without any additions of whatever products you could imagine except for very low levels of sulfites.
The tourism industry in Lebanon is experiencing an unexpected and unprecedented boom. What is your overall assessment of the tourism industry in Lebanon and how sustainable is this growth?
Gaston Hochar, General Manager of Chateau Musar: It is expected that this trend continues in 2010 if conditions are good. This followed two or three years of problematic economic and political situation in the country. Having a boom is only compensation for what has happened in the last five years. We hope that tourism will continue to increase in the country because the country deserves it. We have a lot of potential in this respect ; we have archaeological sites that you can visit, we have industries such as the wineries in Lebanon, you have winter sports such as skiing, so you have a lot of very positive factors for Lebanon in the tourism sector.
Tourism is largely seasonal; do you see this as a challenge to the tourism industry ?
Gaston Hochar, General Manager of Chateau Musar: Although tourism is largely in the summer, due to things like Lebanese living outside coming back to their mother country, there has been more and more winter tourism and this can be developed.
Can you chart the growth of your company and give us a little bit of history and background, sharing with us some of your key performance indicators ?
Gaston Hochar, General Manager of Chateau Musar: Chateau Musar is a wine company that was started by my grandfather; his name was Gaston Hochar and I was named after him. At the time, Lebanon was under the French mandate and most of our customers were French. Then the production continued and the French left and we started selling to the whole country and to the tourists who were coming. In the fifties and sixties Lebanon was a very big tourist destination. At the end of the fifties, my father Serge started producing the wines with the help of his brother Ronald. Following the events in 1975, the Lebanese market collapsed and so the company had to turn to export. In 1979, Chateau Musar went to the Bristol Wine Fair, where our wine was discovered to be the wine of the fair. We then created our UK Company, which would deliver to different importers and countries around the world. In 1990 we were exporting 97% of the production. The situation calmed down in Lebanon and we decided that we had to come back and be present in our local market. Today 20 to 25% of our sales are in Lebanon and 75 to 80% are done abroad. Today we are expanding the production of our second wine.
How do you intend to beat the increasing competition in the local and international markets ?
Gaston Hochar, General Manager of Chateau Musar: We do not intend to beat the competition; all the growers around Lebanon and around the world are friends. Chateau Musar has a certain philosophy; this philosophy makes it and the wine special. You can say that we complement each other on the different segments. Chateau Musar is a niche product. Our aim is to produce natural wines; true wines that reflect nature. In that respect the wines are very defined and peculiar in character. Connoisseurs and people who drink Musar around the world have started to understand this and they drink Musar for that purpose
How would you define your export strategy; which market would you like to develop ?
Gaston Hochar, General Manager of Chateau Musar: Today we are present in around 50 to 60 countries; we are very present in nearly all of Europe and North America, in Brazil and Southeast Asia. We expand where we have the demand. Around the world we are more focused on the high-end consumers; now we’re starting to focus on the midrange with our younger red, rose and white wines. Being mainly a niche product, we can only focus on a certain high-end consumer. It is difficult for Lebanese companies in general to compete in prices with very large producers around the world which produce tens of millions of bottles.
Chateau Musar makes every effort at producing natural wines and letting them develop their own flavor. Can you explain what the appeal of your wines is?
Gaston Hochar, General Manager of Chateau Musar: The appeal of our wine is exactly what you have just said: natural products. Our vineyards are certified organic; the grapes come to the winery and the whole process is completely natural without any additions of whatever products you could imagine except for very low levels of sulfites. Our wines are living products and they have an ability to develop, evolve, and change with time. Each vintage has a different taste that represents the taste of nature, the different tastes of the climate, what the grapes tasted like when they were picked. Something that is very special to Musar is that we release our wines after seven years and think our wines taste best after ten to twelve years, which is not standard. You will not find wineries around the world which keep their product so long before sale. We are expecting growth in our company for our younger range of wines.
How will you communicate with the community about your new range of products?
Gaston Hochar, General Manager of Chateau Musar: This new range has been started two years ago; we have started showing it at wine fairs around the world and we have distributed it to our importers. We’re traveling the world doing tastings. The response has been good; people are really appreciating the wines. We hope that the name of this new range will develop and will help us ensure the growth of the company.
Serge Hochar, Chairman of Chateau Musar: My message will be about wine. Our civilization has started with wine. 5 to 6 thousand years ago we were shipping our wines to the Pharaohs and after that to the Greeks and then the Romans. And we are behind this history and wine is part of it. This is a message which is very important. Lebanon’s situation today is also important to understand because it has been considered for many years a country at war, but wine is the liquid of peace. This is a message that Lebanon can give. I am very happy that Lebanon’s production of wine is increasing in a very important way. That means that Lebanon could one day be recognized as a wine country and not as a war country.