Kouroum of the Nile & Indigenous Grapes

Taste wines made from Bannati - an indigenous Egyptian grape variety that may have grown here for millennia. Kouroum of the Nile won a silver medal at the International Wine Contest Brussels 2016 with their Beausoleil white. This is what Egyptian wine might have tasted like before international varieties arrived. The winery is in El Gouna resort town on the Red Sea.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Read the Label That Tutankhamun's Winemaker Invented History · Free

   Before you taste a drop, stand at the entrance to the winery and let 5,000 years of context land. Egypt didn't just drink wine — they invented the wine label.

   Ancient Egyptians were writing wine labels 3,000 years before anyone in Bordeaux thought to try — listing vintage year, estate name, winemaker's name, and quality notes on clay amphora inscriptions. Tutankhamun's tomb contained 26 precisely labelled wine jars from vintages in his 4th, 5th, and 9th regnal years (1345, 1344, 1340 BC). At Kouroum of the Nile winery (El Gouna, 22 km north of Hurghada), the Bannati grapes grow near Beni Hasan in Minia — a valley where tomb paintings from 1950–1750 BC show Egyptians pressing grapes with their feet. The EU is currently funding the EGYWINE Project at Sorbonne University to sequence ancient Egyptian grape DNA and connect modern varieties like Bannati back to those pharaonic vines. You are standing at the end of the longest unbroken wine story on Earth.

   Backup: If the winery is closed on arrival, ask at the reception — guided tours are typically arranged in advance via www.kouroumegypt.com. The story works just as well told over a glass at Le Garage restaurant in Abu Tig Marina, which stocks the full Kouroum range.

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2. 2 Taste the Only Indigenous Egyptian Grape Still Alive Wine · Price: moderate

   The Beausoleil Bannati won a silver medal at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2016. It's made from a grape that may have been growing in this valley since the pharaohs. You cannot taste this anywhere else on Earth.

   The Beausoleil Bannati is 100% Bannati grape — the only indigenous Egyptian white grape still in commercial cultivation, grown on 120 acres near Beni Hasan where 3,600-year-old pharaonic tombs contain winemaking scenes painted on the walls. Deep golden-lemon colour, aromas of honey and melon, full-bodied palate with vanilla and spice from oak barrel aging — this exact wine won a Silver Medal at the International Wine Contest in Brussels in 2016, beating wines from regions with centuries of brand recognition. During the tasting at Kouroum (book at www.kouroumegypt.com), ask Labib Kallas about driving into the desert from Cairo, the vineyard rows against the cliffs, the refrigerated trucks carrying grapes 500 km across the desert. When he arrived in 2001 the wine was undrinkable. By 2008 it was winning medals in Brussels.

   Backup: If Labib is unavailable for a tour, the Beausoleil Bannati is stocked at Le Garage restaurant in Abu Tig Marina and most hotel restaurants across El Gouna. Order it and ask the sommelier about the Bannati grape — good staff know the story.

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3. 3 Find the Champagne Egypt Nobody Knows Exists Wine · Price: moderate

   Le Baron is made by Méthode Champenoise — the identical bottle-fermentation method used in Champagne, France. In Egypt. In the desert. It won a Bronze at the International Wine Challenge London 2023.

   Kouroum makes sparkling wine using Méthode Champenoise — the exact same technique as Champagne, with secondary fermentation inside the bottle, not a tank. Le Baron Signature is the showstopper: a Blanc de Noirs from Pinot Noir and Grenache, aged 36 months, with honey and fruit complexity that won Bronze at the International Wine Challenge in London in 2023. The International Wine Challenge. From Egypt. From a winery 22 km north of Hurghada. During your Kouroum tasting or at Le Garage El Gouna (Abu Tig Marina), ask specifically for the Le Baron Signature — fine bubbles, persistent mousse, long finish. This is not novelty wine but serious, technically accomplished sparkling wine that happens to be made in a resort town on the Red Sea.

   Backup: The Le Baron White is the most widely available. Le Garage El Gouna (Abu Tig Marina) stocks it. If unavailable, the Beausoleil Rosé from Merlot is the house bestseller and a worthy substitute — lighter and fruit-forward.

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4. 4 Toast the End of The Sahara Wine Road at Abu Tig Marina Adventure · Price: moderate

   This is the trail's finale. Walk from the winery to Abu Tig Marina and drink one final glass of Kouroum wine watching the Red Sea at sunset. You started this journey in the desert. You end it at the sea.

   The Red Sea at sunset from Abu Tig Marina (walkable from the winery) offers one of Egypt's great under-appreciated views — wide pink sky, luxury yachts, Sinai mountains across the water. Samih Sawiris spotted this exact stretch of coast from a boat in 1989 when it was empty desert and built an entire city here. Ancient Egyptians sailed these waters in boats loaded with wine amphorae trading with Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans. Order a glass of Beausoleil White or Jardin du Nil White at Le Garage, find a table facing the marina, and tell the whole story: the Bannati grape near pharaonic tombs, the Lebanese winemaker who built an award-winning winery from nothing, the Champagne-method sparkling wine beating European producers in London. This is the end of The Sahara Wine Road.

   Backup: If Le Garage is full, Pier 88 (also on Abu Tig Marina) stocks Kouroum wines and has equal marina views. Sunset is the goal — aim to arrive by 5:30–6pm and let the light do the rest.

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5. 5 Ask Labib for the Wine That Convinced Decanter London Wine · Price: high · Optional

   The Jardin du Nil is Kouroum's premium organic range — Vermentino and Viognier for the white, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot for the red. Decanter World Wine Awards has awarded it medals. It's the wine that proved Egypt arrived.

   Jardin du Nil ('Garden of the Nile') is Kouroum's certified organic premium range — the white is Vermentino and Viognier, the red is Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot from vines that survive 50°C heat, irrigated by wells 100 metres deep, harvested before sun can desiccate the fruit. These wines have won at Decanter World Wine Awards London and Challenge Millésime Bio in Montpellier. During your guided winery tour, ask Labib specifically for the Jardin du Nil after working through the Beausoleil and Le Baron ranges. Ask him: "What did the first vintage taste like compared to now?" He'll tell you about the 20-year learning curve — a man who moved his family from Lebanon to make world-class wine from desert grapes 500 km away. The Jardin du Nil is the proof.

   Backup: The Jardin du Nil is also available at select upscale restaurants in El Gouna and Cairo (Four Seasons Cairo lists Kouroum wines). If unavailable at the winery during your visit, ask hotel concierge — it circulates through the resort's better restaurants.

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Insider tips

• El Gouna is a resort town - combine with beach holiday

• The Beausoleil from indigenous Bannati is their signature

• Ask about the grape - it may have been grown since pharaonic times

• Their vineyards are near Beni Hasan in central Egypt