El Gouna Winery Begins Production of Premium Spirits

El Gouna has a winery.

Most old time residents are aware, but a few new residents may not know this. 

The winery was established in the year 2003 and is majority owned by Mr. Samih Sawiris. Those of us who exit El Gouna, using the northernmost gate that cuts through the industrial area, will notice a tree lined walled off set of one storey buildings. That is the winery. 

Mr. Labib Kallas, the amiable Lebanese general manager, kindly showed me around the winery and gave me a thorough introduction to the wine making process. A process involving much expertise that Labib gained in university studies at Bordeaux then Montpellier in France and through 27 years work experience gained in France, Lebanon and Egypt. 

I am told the objective of the winery was to make high quality Egyptian wine from Egyptian grapes. It was a fact that, at the time, Egypt had good beer, but our wine was lacking and was being made from imported grapes or imported concentrate. Tourists liked our beer but Egypt needed to also offer them a good local wine. So Mr. Sawiris embarked on the local winery in El Gouna.

Much of the techniques, machinery and processes I was shown, surprised and impressed me. I never knew making wine would involve that much detail and science. My image of winemaking was barefoot villagers squashing grapes in big buckets and pouring the liquid into bottles for fermentation. I mean, the ancient Romans drank wine and there was no automation then. 

The El Gouna winery uses grapes cultivated in the Karam el Nada vineyards 49 Km north of Cairo on the road to Alexandria. Other vineyards in Samalut and El Minya also contribute. These vineyards are under close supervision of representatives of Mr. Kallas. Thirteen grape varieties are planted and harvested and are all certified organic: no pesticides, no chemical fertilizers, grapes are handpicked etc. 

The process involves many steps and careful attention to detail. Details I will not go into, but suffice to say, Egypt has a top notch wine making facility in our own El Gouna backyard. They produce such brands as: Le Baron, Jardin Du Nil, Beausoleil, Shahrazade. Other wines are made for private labels such as hotels and all inclusive businesses  

A decision made by management, after selling a Beer brewery in 2010, was to make Premium Spirits : Whisky, Vodka, Rum, Cognac, Grappa and Arak alongside the existing Wines. New Pot Stills and columns were purchased from the Cognac region in France. Production began in 2015. Today, many of the spirits are being produced at the El Gouna facility and some are available in the market. They fall under the Mosaic label. Cheers retail outlets are already stocking these premium spirits. 

Many thanks to Labib for providing us with this interesting insight into this successful enterprise.