EDDIE CHAMI
A failed attempt to make arak was the catalyst for an exciting career at the forefront of Lebanon’s wine industry for the Australian-born winemaker of Mersel Wine.
Where were you born and where did you grow up? I was born in Australia and grew up in Lebanon, surrounded by weekend communal eating with cousins and friends. Food in Lebanon isn’t just a meal, it is a gathering with a lot of toasting and banter. The Sunday lunch is a three-to-four-hour long experience and between noon and 4pm, the streets are empty. That’s where I started to enjoy drinking our national drink, arak.
What led you to wine? We didn’t have wine culture at home per se, my introduction to wine and our consumption of wine back then was sweet wine around Christmas and New Year celebrations. It wasn’t till I was in my late teens that I started enjoying and drinking dry wines. What led me to wine was an attempt to make arak in Sydney. It was during this process I discovered my passion for fermentation and winemaking.
Where are you based now? I am based in the mountains of Lebanon in Dimane. The landscape around Mersel Wine is rugged and hilly (1500-metre altitude) with Mediterranean summers and cold winters. I’m 15 minutes down the road from the ski resorts.
What are you making at Mersel Wine? I am making a Lebanese identity out of our Indigenous grapes, through wine, arak and other spirits. I get excited about taking a Lebanese grape and making every style of wine from it that I can, from sparkling to sweet and a skin contact in between. Varieties like Merwah, Obeideh, Daw El Amar, Meksassi are all Lebanese Indigenous varieties that I want to work with. Nothing excites me more than harvesting wild Indigenous Lebanese grapes! We have many obstacles to overcome in Lebanon, but growing grapes isn’t one of them.
In your experience, do Australians know much about wine from Lebanon? Australians, as well as other nationalities, are blown away when they hear that Lebanon was one of the first winemaking countries in the world. We are fortunate to be an old-world wine country, with history dating back to the Romans and Phoenicians. The Temple of Bacchus [dedicated to the God of Wine] is in Lebanon.
Best tips for visitors to your part of the world? If you visit my part of the world, the weekend Souk el Tayeb market captures a lot of the flavours of Lebanon under a single roof in Beirut. Aaliya’s Wines is also a nice place to hang out. Kalei Coffee Co is also a must-visit. There are many great places, you just have to go there with an open mindset and explore.
One journey will lead you to the next and you won’t want to come back.