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The Kfardebian Valley is located in the heart of the Lebanon Mountains 1,000 to 2,800 metres above sea level and is one of the most important agricultural regions of Lebanon. This area includes fruit plantations, forests and clear rivers. The winery Château Fakra is located 44 km from Beirut near the ski resort of the Kfardebian mountain at the Keserwan district (Kesrouan), which has a population of 12,000.
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The biomedical scientist and chemist Dr. Carlos Guillermo Adem, born and raised in Argentina, returned to Lebanon in 1982. He first taught in the Faculty of Public Health at the Lebanese University. In 1985, howevery, he took over the 300 years old and shut down Arak distillery of his family and began to reactivate the production as part of his hobby.
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He named his Arak after the nearby temple FAKRA, which was the highest the romans ever built. The civil war in 1986 brought the Lebanese currency to a low point. Foreign brand spirits became too expensive, so local distribution companies searched for local products, which can compensate the foreign quality.
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Dr. Adem than collaborated with one of the biggest cooperation Fatal Holding. Therefore his Arak became the market leader. Furthermore, Dr. Adem decided produce wine in the name "Fakra" using its already existing brand awareness as a promotion. In 1999 he started to buy grapes from winegrowers in the Bekaa Valley in order to start produing the first wines in his own winery. He began to sella 50,000 bottles in the first year.
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It was a great decision in terms of creating excellent quality wines with he philosophy "Fakra - le vin des dieux, the wine of the gods", which is still valid today. In the meantime, the winery's vineyards contain 28 hectares. Château Fakra produces around 150,000 bottles of wine annually, 70% of which are exported.
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A new buildings was erected at the company's headquarters few years ago, including a new winery to separate the production of wine and arak. There was also a restaurant and a theme hotel with a spa, in which visitors can bathe in grape juice. The total invested in of his project is three million dollars (excluding the purchase of land) up till now.
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Château Fakra received a $1 million loan from SFI (Société Financière Internationale, World Bank Group) in order to implement plans and to promote tourism in Lebanon. In addition to Château Fakra, Dr. Adem owns a winery in Argentina (Sol del Plata) since 1998 and in France (Coteaux d'Azur) since 1999.
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