A Syrian wine, this Bargylus 2016 is a real stunner: powerful and full-bodied, it's made to accompany your fine meals.

A fine gourmet wine, Bargylus White 2016 fully lives up to its promise. Half Chardonnay, half Sauvignon Blanc, this Syrian wine from Deir Touma, 60 km east of the seaside town of Latakia, is powerful, structured and complex. From the very first nose, it reveals notes of heated flint, fanned by pretty aromas of shale and gunflint, characteristic of a Sauvignon Blanc bursting with sunshine. On the palate, it's equally superb and generous, with a full-bodiedness typical of a Chardonnay.

But the originality of this vineyard, whose vines grow at an altitude of 900 meters on a clay-limestone terroir marked by a temperate Mediterranean climate, lies perhaps even more in its history. Founded in 2002 by the Saadés, a Syrian-Lebanese family who also own Château Marsyas in Lebanon, it has withstood the upheavals of the Syrian revolution of 2011-2012 and the bloody war that followed; despite the fact that the Saadés have never set foot in Syria again. Far too dangerous, given that to get to this region, home of the Assad family in power since 1971, it has long been required to cross a zone held by Daesh and its other islamist offshoots.

Instead, owners Karim and Sandro Saadé manage everything remotely from Lebanon, where the two brothers live and work. Advised by French winemaker Stéphane Derenoncourt, they manage their team by phone, videoconference or WhatsApp. Before and during the harvest, grape samples are even driven by cab to Beirut for analysis. As a result, Bargylus has never missed a vintage.

What can they rely on? Growing international recognition. Most of its production (around 45,000 bottles a year) is exported to Europe, especially France, where it can be found at highly sought-after tables such as at Spoon, Alain Ducasse's Parisian restaurant.

Finely oaked, this is a wonderful, powerful wine to enjoy with grilled fish or poultry.