Les Caves de Taillevent - Fine Wine Sanctuary

A decadent evening destination with up to 1,600 wine references to discover. The intimate space allows you to sprawl out and indulge in Lebanese wine culture with expert guidance.

What to do there

4 things to do

1. 1 Descend Into the Cellar That Paris Built in Beirut Adventure · Free

   In 1946 André Vrinat opened Taillevent on the Left Bank and became the first restaurateur in France to break Bordeaux's monopoly by championing Burgundy — a wine heresy that earned him three Michelin stars by 1973. His son Jean-Claude brought that philosophy to Beirut in 2013: 'Here, the sommelier replaces the salesman. We don't sell wine — we tell stories.' Walk into Les Caves de Taillevent (Les Jardins de Tabaris, Jirji Zidan Street, Ashrafieh) through the ground-floor boutique and tell the staff you'd like to see the cellar. Six thousand bottles, three floors of cave, oak panels that echo barrel staves — designed by Pierre-Yves Rochon, the same architect behind the Ritz Paris. You descend into the Middle East's only outpost of Paris's most storied wine institution.

   Backup: If the cellar tour isn't available, simply browse the main boutique — the Lebanese wine section on the ground floor alone is worth the visit.

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2. 2 Taste the Vintage That Survived Lebanon's Civil War Wine · Price: moderate

   Gaston Hochar founded Chateau Musar in 1930, but it was his son Serge who turned it into legend. When Lebanon's civil war began in 1975, the Bekaa Valley vineyards sat between two warring factions. Serge drove through checkpoints to oversee harvest while pickers worked under artillery fire. The only year Musar failed to produce wine was 1976 — 'total war: no electricity, fuel, transport, harvest, or anything.' Ask for Chateau Musar red at the intimate wine bar inside Les Caves de Taillevent (through the boutique, past the cellar). Order a recent vintage or ask the sommelier for any older vintage available by the glass. The blend of Cabernet, Cinsault, and Carignan throws leather, tobacco, and dried cherry — wine shaped by altitude, sun, limestone, and war.

   Backup: If Musar is not available by the glass, ask for Massaya Classic (also Bekaa Valley, Rhône-style blend with French involvement). Any Bekaa Valley red will tell part of the same story.

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3. 3 Ask the Sommelier to Pour You 7,000 Years of History Wine · Price: moderate

   Obaideh and Merwah are indigenous Lebanese grape varieties that predate every European wine variety by millennia. Bronze Age amphorae found in Byblos prove that Phoenicians sailed these grapes outward to Greece, Sicily, Spain, and North Africa — carrying not just wine but the first alphabet and the first international wine trade. At Les Caves de Taillevent's bar (Ashrafieh), say to the sommelier: 'I want to taste something that only exists in Lebanon — an indigenous white. Obaideh or Merwah, whichever you have.' They'll understand immediately. Smell for the mineral, waxy, almost honeyed character that makes these grapes unlike anything grown in Europe. You are drinking the direct descendant of the wine that built Mediterranean civilisation.

   Backup: If neither Obaideh nor Merwah is available, ask for any Chateau Ksara white — the estate was founded in 1857 by French Jesuits who accidentally discovered 2 kilometres of 2,000-year-old Roman cave cellars beneath their vineyard in 1898.

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4. 4 Book a Private Lebanese Terroir Tasting Through the Academy Wine · Price: high · Optional

   L'Academie de Taillevent on the first floor of Les Caves de Taillevent (Les Jardins de Tabaris, Ashrafieh) is the most serious wine education institution in Lebanon — possibly in the entire Levant. Request specifically a 'Lebanese terroir and history' theme: taste through Chateau Musar (Bekaa, altitude-grown), Domaine des Tourelles (est. 1868 — Lebanon's oldest operating winery), Chateau Ksara (Roman caves, 1857 Jesuits), and finish with an Obaideh or Merwah indigenous white. Contact via WhatsApp +961 71 525 256 before your visit to arrange the private tasting. Expect a 2–3 hour session covering 6–8 wines, budget $60–100 per person, with a sommelier who follows the Taillevent ethos: stories first, labels second.

   Backup: If the Academy is not available during your visit, ask the sommelier at the bar for 'a guided Lebanese flight' — they regularly assemble informal in-bar tastings matching the Academy's depth without the formal booking requirement.

   Log Memory

Insider tips

• Reserve ahead for weekend evenings

• Ask sommeliers to guide you through Lebanese indigenous varieties

• Perfect for a special celebration