We were down to last of the wines from Ixsir Winery at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  Our guest host was Kelleen Hubbs, the Vice President of Sales for North America for Ixsir Winery.  The new addition for the store is greatly appreciated as there is a large counter for holding glasses and the wines, and we no longer all have to huddle around one of the barrel tables, though that still has some definite nostalgia for some of the veteran customers of the shop.

The penultimate wine of the tasting was Ixsir Winery Grande Reserve Rouge Batroun, Lebanon 2014.  The Batroun Mountain region is in norther Lebanon and vineyards are spread among the various towns in the mountains overlooking the coastal city of Batroun.  Batroun is one of the oldest cities in the world, going back to the Phoenicians, dating back to the 14^th Century BC.  Over the years it was important to the Romans, a Crusader Citadel, and an administrative site for the Ottoman Empire.  It is home to a small group of wineries, and the area is also a tourist destination.  The fruit for this wine is Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon and is from five distinct plots that all have clay and limestone soils: Bechouat, Kab Elias, Deir Ahmar, and Jezzine.  The wine has been aged in French Oak barrels, of which sixty percent is new, and forty percent was used once.  A deep garnet colored wine that offers notes of black cherries, red fruits, sous bois, smoky oak, and traces of leather.  On the palate beautiful tones of black cherry and oak blending harmoniously with tight tannins and a medium-count finish of fruit and terroir.          

The last wine of the tasting was Ixsir Winery “El Ixsir” Rouge Batroun, Lebanon 2016 and some critics have awarded this wine as the best of Batroun.  This wine is a blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot; and was planted in a mix of ferric clay and limestone in the Ainata, Yamoune, and Hadath Baalbek plots.  The wine was aged in French Oak for twenty-four months, of which half were new, and half were used once.  A deep garnet colored wine that offered notes of red and black fruits, toasted oak, and a trace of eucalyptus.  On the palate black cherries and blackberries, cinnamon, vanilla, and cedar blend well with tight tannins, finishing with a long-count of fruit and terroir.  I think that the wine is still tight and could use a few more years in the cellar, which is very impressive for an eight-year old.   

In between tastings and discussions, I had mentioned to Kelleen Hubbs that we have at home a special three pack of EL Ixsir Cuvee X’eme Anniversaire Red Non-Vintage.  It was number sixteen of an issue of one-thousand, and the box held three bottles of this special edition wine as well as a beautiful “coffee-table” book The Wines of Ixsir.  Ixsir Winery was founded in 2009 in the northern part of Lebanon in Batroun which is a coastal area.  They are a mountain winery, and one of the highest in elevation for the Northern Hemisphere.  The name Ixsir derives from the Arabic word “Iksir” the original Arabic word for “elixir.” History has recorded that man has searched for the perfect elixir for eternal youth and for love.  The winery is very progressive and has been named one of the greenest buildings in the world.  The winery owns one hundred-twenty hectares in the Batroun with several different vineyards capitalizing on the terroir.  The winery grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Tempranillo, Caladoc, Cinsault, Merlot, Obeidy, Viognier, Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Semillon.  Quite impressive for a young company, as far as I am concerned.  The EL Ixsir Cuvee X’eme Anniversaire Red Non-Vintage is a special bottling of three very recent vintages of their EL, which is their top cuvee and a blend of fifty-five percent Syrah, thirty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon and ten percent Merlot.  Each of the wines had aged for twenty-four months and then had been blended and aged in French Oak, of which half were new barrels. The concept of having the three bottles in the case was that the first bottle should be tasted in five years, and then at least ten years for the second bottle and the last should be held even longer.  As a reference point, this wine was issued 30 April 2019 and the Wine Advocate awarded it a score of 93 Points and a suggest “Drink Date” of 2022-2040.  When we tasted the wine, we were told that the 2014 vintage which was the real powerhouse of EL was leading this wine and it was big and inky and really overpowering; it was way too young and feisty to be properly enjoyed and there was real merit in cellaring this wine.  So, this is a gift that will be giving joy in the years to come.  We have cheated and had the first wine in 2022, and it was still too feisty, so I can wait for the next bottle to be opened.