In the northern mountains of Lebanon, Sept Winery was born out of the desire to revive a family’s land and cultivate it with life-changing passion. The whole idea started as a fantasy when Maher was living in France and working as a data consultant. While on a journey of self-healing and the pursuit of happiness, Maher was led back to his father’s land and the memories of nature they shared.

Wine was the spark; with every glass Maher drank, his imagination drifted to running his own vineyard in Lebanon. He felt this would bring him true happiness, and so he returned to his origins and with the goal of reviving the land he inherited from his father.

He planted 5,000 vines with his bare hands in 2010, a homage to his father, and in 2016, he made his first vintage in the garage of his house before the winery’s main building was completed.

Maher continued to work alone from 2016 to 2021, covering all aspects of the business; winemaking, sales, distribution, accounting, and marketing. Eventually, his team expanded, with cousin Abdo joining him and Krystel in 2022 as brand communications manager.

Always fond of ancestral methods and natural ways, Maher combined his vision and the knowledge he acquired from his travels to create the philosophy of Sept: natural wines that convey the honest expression of terroir through natural additive-free wines.

To complement his wine, Maher has also created La Table de Sept, a restaurant serving ‘modern terroir cuisine in Lebanon’. Featuring locally sourced ingredients, seasonal blind menus, herbs foraged from his own garden, it is the perfect backdrop to taste Maher’s pioneering Lebanese natural wines.

‘From where we stand, we see natural wines as the only way to convey the real value of our terroir, to raise the quality of our production, and to reflect the value of the oldest winemaking region in the world. Natural indigenous wines are what will make Lebanon stand out as a unique winemaking region.’

We couldn’t agree more!