Winter was a normal Lebanese winter; a mixture of cold rainy and snowy weather with weeks of sunshine. But it was again followed by a rainy and cold spring which was to last until June. Then July, August, September and October were normal but with absolutely no rain at all. Flowering happened later than usual but was good and this delayed the whole process with late maturity. We finally started harvesting on the 9th September. Some of the grapes were quite mature, while others could have waited two more weeks. There was no obvious reason for this diversity but this is “Les caprices de la nature”. The crop was normal, both in quality and quantity; grapes were in good shape with no problems or disease and good to eat. Fermentation went smoothly but quicker than usual. Results were good, 1998 is a very aromatic and fragrant year.