WineInk: ‘Wine and War,’ a film

These are unsettling times. And it might seem counterintuitive to suggest that one can find some inspiration in a film about war. But inspiration is exactly what I found this past week, when I sat down with a hefty glass of cabernet sauvignon and watched a documentary on Amazon Prime titled “Wine and War.”

Produced by Mark Johnston — an Aspen resident, filmmaker, and extreme athlete (He has a Grand Traverse and a Power of Four on his prodigious resumé) — the film, released in 2020, uses wine as a device, or a lens, to tell the story of the resilience and courage of the people of Lebanon who have faced conquests, war, and invasions for centuries. The winemakers of the region have an ancient history of persevering through troubled times to make their wares, and they continue to do so to this day.

 “Wine and War” powerfully blends blindingly beautiful, poetically shot images of one of the world’s most fertile agricultural wine regions with historic footage of the carnage of the wars that have been part of the more recent history of the Middle East. But it is the interviews with the community of Lebanese winemakers, who tell of their passion for producing wines and their bravery and determination in the face of adversity, that make the film such an uplifting experience.

Much of what I, and many others, know about Lebanese wines can be directly attributed to the efforts of a fabled winemaker named Serge Hochar, who spent his life promoting and evangelizing about not just the outstanding Bordeaux style wines of his family-owned winery, Chateau Musar, but also the other wines of the region. Hochar, who died in a swimming accident in 2014, plays a significant role in the film. His charismatic manner and personality, along with his belief that wine is an essential part of the human experience, provide a rich coda for a life that transcended troubled times.

“Wine and War” was seven years in the making for Johnston and his production partner Mark Ryan.

“We spent a year in Beirut and the Bekaa Valley, which is the primary wine-producing part of the country,” Johnston said; they used local film production crews and editors with the entire production team coming from Lebanon. “You think in advance that it will be a challenge, but there were just so many things to learn — just getting permits we needed to work with local governments and Hezbollah. Then we had to establish ourselves in the wine community.”

For their efforts, “Wine and War” was honored with an UNESCO Award for “Best Production Encouraging Respect Among Cultures” at Spain’s Terres Travel Film Festival in 2021.

“When you uncork the wines, you uncork conflict; there is a whiff of war in every bottle,” says journalist and author Michael Karam with drama in “Wine and War,” which was inspired by his book, “Wines of Lebanon.”

Karam serves as an astute travel companion in the film, narrating stories and conducting interviews — some in English, others in French and Arabic — with a number of Lebanese winemakers. There is also an exploration of the millennia-long history of wine in the region with footage of ancient archeological digs near the city of Beirut drawing a direct line to the vineyards of today.

During the making of “Wine and War,” Johnston was fortunate to bask in the glow of the iconic Hochar, who provides many morsels of wine wisdom throughout the film. In a recent interview from his home in Starwood, he relayed a classic story about his initial meeting with Hochar in 2014, the first person he conducted an interview with for the film.  

“When I first met Serge, he asked: ‘Tell me what you know about wine.’ I laughed and said, ‘I don’t know anything. I’m more of a beer guy.’ Serge told an aide to bring a bottle of 2003 Chateau Musar and said to me, ‘I am going to teach you all you need to know about wine,'” he said.

Hochar opened the bottle and poured a small taste of the Bordeaux-style wine, and Johnston quickly drained the glass.

Hochar shook his head, shut the door, poured another small taste and said, “Close your eyes, taste the air, taste the soil, taste the life.”

For the next two hours, he served as a wine guru, transforming Johnston from a “beer guy” into someone who now has a respect and reverence for wine.

“He was larger than life,” said Johnston with admiration.    

“The French have a saying, joie de vivre, which means the joy of living,” he explained in a recent interview. “These Lebanese winemakers in ‘Wine and War’ all know that any day could be the last, and so they have learned to live their lives with joy each day.”

It is a lesson that comes through in the film, as the various winemakers tell of their experiences in both wine and war.

Alas, while the film was released a half-decade ago, war still challenges the winemakers in the greater region. In October of 2024, just as the most recent grape harvest was coming to a close, wineries in both Lebanon and Israel were once again subjected to shelling and fighting, as Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Force engaged in battles. For both sides, the toll on their wine is exceeded only by the lives lost and those impacted by the conflict.

Hauntingly, Hochar speaks prophetically and powerfully from the film: “War or no war, I don’t care. Because grapes and yeast … they don’t care about war.”

“Wine and War” can be found on Amazon Prime and Apple +.