Lebanese winemaker strains to keep business alive through war and drought

Elias Maalouf crouched to examine a shrivelling grapevine in his ancestral vineyard in the sun-kissed plains of eastern Lebanon. Last year, Israeli air strikes kept him from picking most of the grapes. Now, a drought has slashed his harvest.

“Whether it’s a political war or a climate war, we’re suffering on all sides,” said Maalouf, 42, whose family has been making wine for six generations.

As the sun rose, six