Sept Winery Viognier

About Sept Winery Viognier

Sept Winery Viognier originates from deep clay soil in the district of Riyaq. This sun-soaked Viognier vintage is prone to equally revealing roundness and pure freshness in the mouth. A festive wine with unique aromatics. Perfectly paired with exotic meals, sweet and sour Asian cuisine, as well as for an aperitivo.

About Sept Winery

Sept Winery is born out of a desire to revive a family’s land and cultivate it with a life-changing passion. During the years he lived in France away from home as a student and early-life employee, Maher embarked on a self-healing and pursuit-of-happiness journey that led him all the way back to his father’s land and the memories he shared with him in nature.

For him, happiness unfolded in the taste of wine, and with every glass of wine he drank, he imagined himself sitting in his own vineyard in Lebanon, his heart full of joy. This is when he knew he had to leave everything and go back to the sources, where his love for the land started. Reviving the land he inherited from his father was the most beautiful homage he could pay him, with each of the 5,000 vines he planted with his bare hands and every challenge he faced to make his dream come true in his village in the Northern mountains of Lebanon.

Beyond reviving the land, Maher revives with it the agriculture methods he is so keen on learning from the village’s ancestors. This is how he starts delving into the world of biodynamic agriculture, embracing its methods fiercely and fervently and transforming his terraces into the first biodynamic vineyard in Lebanon.

In addition to the grapes, he cultivates in his vineyard, Maher sources organic grapes from single vineyards around Lebanon in line with his mission to highlight the expression of his country’s terroirs. Today, his yearly production of 20,000 bottles is committed to expressing the extraordinary nature of Lebanon’s terroir by celebrating its diversity, richness, and authenticity.

About Biodynamic Viticulture and Low-Intervention Winemaking

A strong admirer and believer of the spiritual-scientific teachings of Rudolf Steiner, Maher relies greatly on cosmic energy and spirituality to work his soil, grow his grapes, and make his wines.

Believing in nature’s way, he strictly abides by the guidelines of biodynamic and natural agriculture, minimizing his intervention in the organic growth of his grapes or the vinification process. For him, Nature is a perfect example of a successful surviving and productive model based on the equilibrium between the elements that define every environment: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Maher’s intervention in the land as a vintner is never corrective; the only thing it aims to do is to respect and preserve a natural balance in his vineyard through a glorious combination of sun, soil, air, and water.

Totally chemical-free, Maher’s soil in Nehla, Batroun, located at 950m of altitude facing the Mediterranean sea is worked according to the lunar calendar and biodynamic principles to guarantee the yielding of high-quality fruit, producing 500 bottles of biodynamic Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.

“Un Vin de Lieu” is a tagline and motto Sept carries in each of its bottles. By producing wines that reflect the honest expression of their own terroir, Sept Winery is showcasing Lebanon’s highly diversified micro-climates and the exceptional character they can generate in a bottle.

In order to further support the authentic expression of these terroirs by best showcasing the expression of their soil, climate, and fruit, our fermentation process relies on:

• Wild yeast/ spontaneous fermentation
• Natural stabilization and minimal filtration of wine
• Zero additives during the fermentation process
• Only a small amount of sulfite is added before bottling (below 35 mg/l total SO2)
•  No use of oak barrels (inox tanks)
•  Lees aging

This natural fermentation helps Sept Winery in optimally manifesting the genuine flavors and aromas a terroir can give them while creating a unique identity for Lebanese wines. After all, what’s wine other than the expression of a land?