Massaya (Arak)
The story of Massaya and its owners, Sami and Ramzi Ghosn, is intertwined with the story of modern Lebanon. Arak Massaya, a traditionally produced anise-flavored eau-de-vie, captures the creative tension between its recognition as an international brand and the Ghosn brothers’ deep respect for the history and culture of their country.
In the early 1970s, Sami and Ramzi’s father, Michel, acquired a farm in the Lebanese countryside as a weekend retreat for his family. Located in the lush Beqaa Valley, the farm was a second home to the two brothers and their sister, Ghada. But in 1975 civil war broke out and the family was forced to flee their country and settle in the United States.
When the Ghosns returned in the early nineties, their aim was to reclaim and restore their family land, but also to create a product that would celebrate their country’s traditions. The war had lasted for 15 years, and the toll of its destruction had been keenly felt across the small country, especially in its closely knit community of winemakers. After experimenting with a variety of agricultural products, the Ghosn brothers started producing arak with an eye towards eventually funding the development of a world class winery. The first bottles of arak were produced in 1994, and the wine followed in 1998.
Known for its refreshing and palate-cleansing anise-based flavor and aroma, arak is typically produced as a distillate of indigenous Mediterranean grapes (though dates, plums, and figs may also be used). Considered the national drink of Lebanon, arak literally means “perspiration” in Arabic, a fanciful description of the way the liquid looks as it condenses coming off the still. Arak is also known as the “milk of lions” for the way the anise oil, which dissolves in alcohol, becomes milky white in the presence of water (a process known as louching).
Somewhat ironically, one of the early hurdles faced by the Ghosns as they built their brand stemmed from arak’s very identity: its long history. In the 1990s, especially among Lebanon’s younger drinkers, arak had become unfashionable—a dusty relic of a rural past. The presence of the French Mandate following the end of World War I had left the door to European influence open in Lebanon, and arak in its clunky bottle (or plastic jug, depending on the distiller) seemed rustic and old-fashioned when compared to imported vodka and whiskey.
The Ghosn brothers wanted to revive and celebrate the tradition of arak while liberating the spirit from these negative associations. They wanted to celebrate something quintessentially Lebanese, but they also wanted to let Lebanon shine on an international stage. The choice of bottle style and color symbolizes that balancing act. “Blue in Arabic is Fairuz and also the name of Lebanon’s most beloved female singer,” explains Ramzi Ghosn. “It is also the sky and sea. To us it was Lebanon.” Blue is also the color of twilight, which, in Lebanese Arabic, is the word massaya.
Learn about Massaya wines.