Heya, ‘Kanz’
Winemaking in Lebanon goes back all the way to 1550 BCE, when the Phoenicians established the trading culture that connected the coastline of today’s Lebanon with the whole world. In addition to spreading their alphabets and trading their famous purple dye, they traded wine. Big terracotta jars were specially produced in pottery kilns in Tyre to transport wine to the world. Lebanon is among the oldest site in wine production in the world. Today they continue this legacy, with the same passion that the Phoenicians had centuries ago, exporting to the world the best quality wine from the land of the cedars. Heya, which means 'She' in Arabic, is a representation and appreciation of women who work hard in a male dominated industry to produce something they love. It was started by two mothers and friends, Claudine Lteif and Michelle Chami, who share a passion for natural wine and ancestral wine making techniques. Michelle’s husband is the winemaker at Mersel Wines and so they got their start producing small batches of wine there, where they have their hands in every aspect of the process. They are also huge advocates of women in the industry. They write “The thing that also motivated us to make our own wines is when out in the field we felt women were not appreciated at all. Many of the women we work with wake up at 3am, they cook, they clean, they get everything ready for their family before leaving the house at 4am to go to harvest, they would come home and also attend to their families, they had no break and they were certainly not appreciated. Women get paid less than men on the field and so we said for our wines we want to pay them the same. We want to show them that at least we are ever-so-grateful for all their hard work, we want more women to come to the field and be surrounded by people that appreciate them. We hear their stories, we learn about their backgrounds, we sing and laugh together, and we have fostered really good relationships with these women, they jump at every opportunity to be with us whenever we need help”. Even down to the labels on their wines which are photos of the women working in the fields. This ‘Kanz’ wine, which means ‘treasure’ in Arabic, is a blend of Grenache & Syrah from the region of Kfifen in the mountains of Batroun. It is made through whole cluster carbonic maceration then fermented with native yeast and aged in amphora. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered with just a small amount of sulfur. It is bright and high-toned red fruits, white pepper, and woody tannins and perfect with a light chill. Drink it with smokey red meats, grilled vegetables that are rich with herbs but most naturally, it is delicious with traditional Lebanese foods like baba ghanouj, tabbouleh, falafel and shawarma.
Winemaking in Lebanon goes back all the way to 1550 BCE, when the Phoenicians established the trading culture that connected the coastline of today’s Lebanon with the whole world. In addition to spreading their alphabets and trading their famous purple dye, they traded wine. Big terracotta jars were specially produced in pottery kilns in Tyre to transport wine to the world. Lebanon is among the oldest site in wine production in the world. Today they continue this legacy, with the same passion that the Phoenicians had centuries ago, exporting to the world the best quality wine from the land of the cedars. Heya, which means 'She' in Arabic, is a representation and appreciation of women who work hard in a male dominated industry to produce something they love. It was started by two mothers and friends, Claudine Lteif and Michelle Chami, who share a passion for natural wine and ancestral wine making techniques. Michelle’s husband is the winemaker at Mersel Wines and so they got their start producing small batches of wine there, where they have their hands in every aspect of the process. They are also huge advocates of women in the industry. They write “The thing that also motivated us to make our own wines is when out in the field we felt women were not appreciated at all. Many of the women we work with wake up at 3am, they cook, they clean, they get everything ready for their family before leaving the house at 4am to go to harvest, they would come home and also attend to their families, they had no break and they were certainly not appreciated. Women get paid less than men on the field and so we said for our wines we want to pay them the same. We want to show them that at least we are ever-so-grateful for all their hard work, we want more women to come to the field and be surrounded by people that appreciate them. We hear their stories, we learn about their backgrounds, we sing and laugh together, and we have fostered really good relationships with these women, they jump at every opportunity to be with us whenever we need help”. Even down to the labels on their wines which are photos of the women working in the fields. This ‘Kanz’ wine, which means ‘treasure’ in Arabic, is a blend of Grenache & Syrah from the region of Kfifen in the mountains of Batroun. It is made through whole cluster carbonic maceration then fermented with native yeast and aged in amphora. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered with just a small amount of sulfur. It is bright and high-toned red fruits, white pepper, and woody tannins and perfect with a light chill. Drink it with smokey red meats, grilled vegetables that are rich with herbs but most naturally, it is delicious with traditional Lebanese foods like baba ghanouj, tabbouleh, falafel and shawarma.
Winemaking in Lebanon goes back all the way to 1550 BCE, when the Phoenicians established the trading culture that connected the coastline of today’s Lebanon with the whole world. In addition to spreading their alphabets and trading their famous purple dye, they traded wine. Big terracotta jars were specially produced in pottery kilns in Tyre to transport wine to the world. Lebanon is among the oldest site in wine production in the world. Today they continue this legacy, with the same passion that the Phoenicians had centuries ago, exporting to the world the best quality wine from the land of the cedars. Heya, which means 'She' in Arabic, is a representation and appreciation of women who work hard in a male dominated industry to produce something they love. It was started by two mothers and friends, Claudine Lteif and Michelle Chami, who share a passion for natural wine and ancestral wine making techniques. Michelle’s husband is the winemaker at Mersel Wines and so they got their start producing small batches of wine there, where they have their hands in every aspect of the process. They are also huge advocates of women in the industry. They write “The thing that also motivated us to make our own wines is when out in the field we felt women were not appreciated at all. Many of the women we work with wake up at 3am, they cook, they clean, they get everything ready for their family before leaving the house at 4am to go to harvest, they would come home and also attend to their families, they had no break and they were certainly not appreciated. Women get paid less than men on the field and so we said for our wines we want to pay them the same. We want to show them that at least we are ever-so-grateful for all their hard work, we want more women to come to the field and be surrounded by people that appreciate them. We hear their stories, we learn about their backgrounds, we sing and laugh together, and we have fostered really good relationships with these women, they jump at every opportunity to be with us whenever we need help”. Even down to the labels on their wines which are photos of the women working in the fields. This ‘Kanz’ wine, which means ‘treasure’ in Arabic, is a blend of Grenache & Syrah from the region of Kfifen in the mountains of Batroun. It is made through whole cluster carbonic maceration then fermented with native yeast and aged in amphora. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered with just a small amount of sulfur. It is bright and high-toned red fruits, white pepper, and woody tannins and perfect with a light chill. Drink it with smokey red meats, grilled vegetables that are rich with herbs but most naturally, it is delicious with traditional Lebanese foods like baba ghanouj, tabbouleh, falafel and shawarma.