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An old traditional house lies on the hills above the port of Batroun dating back to th e17th century. It was once owned by the Bitar family, who ruled the area during the Ottoman Empire. The traditional architecture is worth obeserving. But what exists further down the hill is truly breathtaking: The winery IXSIR, which was built twelve metres below and is completely hidden. In December 2011, CNN named IXSIR one of the 12 "greenest buildings in the world" highlighting its intelligent architecture and environmentally friendly winemaking process. This award confirms, among other things, the high sustainability and particularly low energy consumption of the company.
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IXSIR is probably the most remarkable vineyard in Lebanon. Carlos Ghosn, head of Renault-Nissan, started this spectacular 12 million dollar project in collaboration with his friends in 2007. The well-known Spanish oenologist Gabriel Rivero, who has worked for Chateau Kefraya, now produced wine with state-of-the-art technology, including an air exchange system. And Hubert De Boüard of Château Angelus, a friend of Ghosn, joined them as a consultant.
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While the restored historical house, which is now an attraction for tourists offereing them an elegant restaurant with a large grill and boutique selling their wines and goods from local producers, is visible on the surface, an ultra-modern winery hides underneath. The cellar and storage is connected to a tunnel, which is completely overplanted amd used to display works of local artists.
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Their vision is unique: they want to rediscover the best terroir with the greatest potential for winegrowing in Lebanon. Of course focused on the forgotten regions. The estate is located at an altitude of 400 metres, where they growing Syrah and Petit Verdot on 6 hectares. Very special terroirs were selected in five other regions in Lebanon. There they planted the most suitable grape varieties on a total of 110 hectares - 200 are planned.
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They planted 19 hectares with red varieties at an altitude of 1,800 metres at the mountain village of Ainata near Baalbek, which is also the highest location in the country. The vineyards of Deir el Ahmar, Niha and Kab-Elias are located in the Bekaa valley, Azzibe with its impressive terraces is located near Jezzine in the south. The grapes are harvested manually and immediately transported by refrigerated trucks to the winery, where they are kept for up to 36 hours in refrigerated chambers.
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The range includes six wines. Three in the entry-level segment called "Altitudes" (red, white and rosé) and two "Grande Reserve" wines (red and white) as well as the top wine of IXSIR "El", a complex cuvée of Syrah, Cabernet and Merlot of great finesse, aged for 18 months in 400-litre barrels.
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