It wasn’t long before Bustros realized the top quality of the grapes and decided to produce his own wine. “The wine quality turned out to be exceptional,” Rani Azzi, Vineyard Manager and Assistant Technical Director says. Azzi adds that it wasn’t only that. “Mr. Bustros adopted the sustainability concept early on and it has been a motto ever since.”

The 300-hectare vineyard has a diversity of soil and planting density of 4000 vines per hectare and an average yield of 35 hectoliters per hectare.

SwitchMed along with local partners in Lebanon started an initiative targeting several wineries in the region. “The pilot project proposed the development of a composting project for wineries organic waste,” Azzi notes.

Azzi further highlights that SwitchMed experts had held seminars with Chateau Kefraya and other wineries in Lebanon. The American University of Beirut Nature Conservation Centre (AUB-NCC) along with Chateau Kefraya has conducted experiments to discover the best mixture for producing quality compost.

“The results are used as fertilizers for olive trees,” Azzi says. He adds that other tests took and are taking place to expand compost results.

“SwitchMed also sent in specialists for seminars on circular economy as part of the collaboration,” Azzi remarks. “We also visited several places in Spain in order to get inspired on how we can take the most of our grapevine and wine sub-products.”

When it comes to SwitchMed recommendations, Azzi says they’re following them through working on maximizing the results of composting. “Plans to expand the composting process are in place as recommended.

If you examine Chateau Kefraya, you’ll realize that it’s sustainable through and through. “Before the pilot project, we had Installed solar panels, during it we worked on the composting process, wastewater treatment, and now many other projects linked to sustainable production are in progress,” Azzi adds.

Learn more about Chateau Kefraya through their website and Facebook page.