Phoenicia Wine Trail
The Phoenicians invented wine trade 5,000 years ago. Rome inherited their knowledge.
Chapter 10 of Roman Wine Odyssey · Lebanon
The stops
- Tour · Price: moderate Baalbek: Temple of Bacchus The largest Roman temple dedicated to the wine god. This jaw-dropping monument towers over the Bekaa Valley — Rome's finest tribute to Bacchus. The scale is almost incomprehensible: columns 20 meters tall, a building larger than the Parthenon. Bring wine and drink to the god of wine in his greatest temple.
- Tasting · Price: moderate Bekaa Valley Overview The valley where Roman legions drank and Phoenicians first traded wine. Bekaa's continental climate produces Lebanon's finest wines. Multiple producers offer tastings with views of snow-capped mountains and ancient ruins. This is where Western wine culture was born.
- Tour · Price: moderate Château Ksara Lebanon's oldest winery (founded 1857) sits atop Roman caves. Jesuit monks discovered 2 km of natural caves used for aging — caves Romans knew about. The tour includes the atmospheric cellars and tastings of award-winning wines. Lebanese wine renaissance starts here.
- Tasting · Price: high Château Musar The legendary producer that made wine through 15 years of civil war. When bombs fell on the valley, Serge Hochar continued harvesting. Musar Red is one of the world's great wines — complex, age-worthy, impossible to categorize. This is heroic winemaking.
- Tour · Price: moderate Byblos (Jbeil) One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Phoenicians shipped wine from this port 5,000 years ago — the word "Bible" comes from Byblos (papyrus was traded here). Roman temples, Crusader castle, fishing harbor. Local wines available in old town.
- Adventure · Price: moderate Batroun Wine District Coastal wineries on ancient Phoenician terraces. Batroun was a Phoenician city before Rome existed. Today, boutique producers make wines from indigenous and international grapes. Coastal breezes, sea views, and excellent wines.
- Tour · Price: low Sidon (Saida) Phoenician glass-blowing capital — they invented the glass wine vessel. Sidon's Crusader castle, souks, and soap museums tell millennia of history. This is where wine containers were revolutionized before Rome.
- Tour · Price: low Tyre (Sour) UNESCO World Heritage Phoenician-Roman city. The largest Roman hippodrome ever found, aqueducts, baths, and colonnaded streets. Alexander the Great built a causeway to conquer it. The purple dye from Tyre made emperors' robes.
The story
The Bekaa Valley has been producing wine since before written history. Modern Lebanese wine is having a renaissance — Château Musar is world-class. Stand in the Temple of Bacchus, the largest Roman temple to the wine god, and drink to 5,000 years of wine history.
Plan the trip
Insider tip Baalbek Temple of Bacchus at sunset with Château Musar is transcendent.
Getting there and around
- Car required
- Yes
- Parking
- Free at most wineries, paid at ruins
- Nearest airport
- Beirut (BEY)
- Drinking and driving
- Hire a driver or join organized wine tours
Where to stay
- Base yourself in
- Beirut + Bekaa Valley
- Nightly range
- $100-300/night
What it costs
- Includes
- 4 nights accommodation, tastings, ruins entry, meals
- Per person
- $600-1,000