Château Belle-Vue, Lebanon
I recently went to Lebanon and visited Château Belle-Vue in the mountain village of Bhamdoun above Beirut. I had been hearing some good things about their wines for some time but was not expecting the incredible story behind their creation.
It was named after the Hotel Belle-Vue, built in 1860 and subsequently destroyed during the civil war in 1983 when the village was literally massacred during the fighting. The town had never truly recovered until the arrival of Naji and Jill Boutros in 1999. Naji was a successful investment banker working for the likes of Merrill Lynch and Colony Capital – Bhamdoun was the town where he was born and after a moment of epiphany decided to move back and begin the renaissance of his hometown.
