Review Reports

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Chapter 2. Bearing in mind its importance and development across different historical periods, it is to be expected that this chapter will be significantly supplemented with data, especially those from earlier times. Therefore, on the basis of the available literary references, add more facts regarding the consumption of wine and grapes, winemaking techniques, and related topics.

Chapter 3 discusses the geography and theory of Lebanon, with particular emphasis on the Bekaa Valley. The authors provide an overview of the basic concepts of terroir and the importance of rezoning varieties, which could significantly improve the viticultural image of Lebanon. The chapter should be supplemented with more references to the literature, as there are currently few and many claims remain unsubstantiated. It would also be very useful to present, in graphical or tabular form, data relating to the wine regions of Lebanon, including precipitation and temperature conditions. This would provide a clearer insight into the terroir of Lebanon.

Chapter 4 makes a large number of claims with only two cited references. Please add further references, bearing in mind that this is a review paper. Apart from the two autochthonous names and the international varieties grown in Lebanon, what are the most common varieties? What are their names? Have any new varieties been introduced in the last decade?

Chapter 5 is quite general. If it is not supplemented with many more details related to the title, it would be better to integrate certain sections into other parts of the text and delete the larger, general section. Specifically, if we are discussing vineyard performance, it is necessary to present the different cultivation systems and methods of cultivation used in Lebanon. The same applies to the wine production process. It should be described in detail as a technological production process and, for each type of production, compared with practices in the wider wine world, etc.

Chapter 6, in relation to its content, is very sparsely written compared with its title. Environmental protection, tourism, sustainable production, conservation of land resources and the legal regulations mentioned in the text are broad concepts that require fuller explanation with concrete examples. Bearing in mind that this is a review paper, the authors should devote significantly more attention to this chapter by providing more specific examples, or else delete it.

The same comment applies to Chapter 7. It is necessary to significantly expand and improve the sections on climate change and its impact on viticulture in Lebanon.

Chapter 8 mentions economic indicators. Include more specific e-results for these indicators. I also suggest correcting the subtitle, bearing in mind that the first and second paragraphs list aggravating circumstances affecting the wine sector.

Chapter 11, which discusses guidelines that may be relevant in the future, should be moved to the end of the paper.

In chapter 12 there are elements related to water and soil. It is possible to incorporate them into the part related to climate change.

Chapter 14 is well conceived in its treatment of the new generation and the declining popularity of various wine-drinking habits.

Chapter 16 clearly states the goals and further opportunities for improving viticulture in Lebanon. It is necessary to add to this chapter the earlier articles that I indicated should be moved to the end of the work.

 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

We thank the reviewer for his time and thorough review and here are our responses:

Before starting, it is important to note that The original chapter numbers refer to the submitted manuscript. Revised section locations reflect the reorganized 11-section manuscript. 

1. Chapter 2. Bearing in mind its importance and development across different historical periods, it is to be expected that this chapter will be significantly supplemented with data, especially those from earlier times. Therefore, on the basis of the available literary references, add more facts regarding the consumption of wine and grapes, winemaking techniques, and related topics

Response: 

We thank the reviewer for requesting a more substantial historical synthesis. We have expanded the historical discussion within Section 3.1 of the restructured manuscript to distinguish (i) broader Near Eastern evidence for early grape use and wine production, (ii) direct Iron Age evidence from Tell el-Burak, (iii) the stages of ancient winemaking technology and the limits of their archaeological verification, (iv) later historical periods for which the Lebanon-specific evidence remains incomplete, (v) the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century formation of modern commercial viticulture, and (vi) post-1990 sectoral expansion. We now explicitly distinguish evidence for grape consumption from evidence for fermented wine, and avoid assuming uninterrupted technological continuity between Phoenician-period production and modern wineries. 

Chapter 3 discusses the geography and theory of Lebanon, with particular emphasis on the Bekaa Valley. The authors provide an overview of the basic concepts of terroir and the importance of rezoning varieties, which could significantly improve the viticultural image of Lebanon. The chapter should be supplemented with more references to the literature, as there are currently few and many claims remain unsubstantiated. It would also be very useful to present, in graphical or tabular form, data relating to the wine regions of Lebanon, including precipitation and temperature conditions. This would provide a clearer insight into the terroir of Lebanon.

 

Response: 

We thank the reviewer for recommending stronger documentation and a regional climatic comparison. We have expanded the terroir discussion with a new subsection (Section 4.1) and a comparative table covering northern, central and southern Bekaa, Batroun, Mount Lebanon and southern highland sites. The revision distinguishes broad regional precipitation evidence from site-specific vineyard measurements and explicitly identifies the absence of harmonized temperature normals. We also specify the climatic, soil and viticultural measurements required for a defensible national terroir atlas. Existing Lebanese vineyard research is used to support the discussion of weather–performance relationships, while broader climatic and wine-sector sources are clearly qualified. 

Chapter 4 makes a large number of claims with only two cited references. Please add further references, bearing in mind that this is a review paper. Apart from the two autochthonous names and the international varieties grown in Lebanon, what are the most common varieties? What are their names? Have any new varieties been introduced in the last decade?

Response: 

We thank the reviewer for this constructive suggestion. We have expanded the grapevine genetic-resources section by adding a dedicated subsection and comparative cultivar table. The revision now distinguishes cultivars commonly encountered in the 2015 wine-grape survey from traditional names recovered through recent molecular surveys, and provides additional supporting references. Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Tempranillo, Merlot, Chardonnay and other surveyed cultivars are identified, while Obeidi, Merwah, Beitamouni, Dabouki, Sebai Assouad and Inab el Mir are discussed with appropriate qualifications regarding use and genetic identity. We also clarify that the available sources do not establish a reliable cultivar-by-cultivar record of introductions during 2016–2026; Malbec is documented as present by 2013. We have avoided presenting historical survey occurrence as current planting-area prevalence.

Chapter 5 is quite general. If it is not supplemented with many more details related to the title, it would be better to integrate certain sections into other parts of the text and delete the larger, general section. Specifically, if we are discussing vineyard performance, it is necessary to present the different cultivation systems and methods of cultivation used in Lebanon. The same applies to the wine production process. It should be described in detail as a technological production process and, for each type of production, compared with practices in the wider wine world, etc.

Response:

We thank the reviewer for identifying the need for greater technical specificity. We retained the focused manuscript structure established during the broader revision, but expanded Section 6 with subsections on documented Lebanese cultivation practices, vineyard-to-winery production pathways, and comparative evidence requirements. We distinguish the site-level Malbec management study from unverified national practice, detail the documented Merwah processing sequence, add the 2020 pilot-scale indigenous yeast validation study, and distinguish traditional cooked-wine processing from conventional still-wine production. Section 8 also now explains the limitations of microbial-terroir claims. The text identifies data gaps and proposes standardized comparative research rather than inferring national practice from isolated examples.

Chapter 6, in relation to its content, is very sparsely written compared with its title. Environmental protection, tourism, sustainable production, conservation of land resources and the legal regulations mentioned in the text are broad concepts that require fuller explanation with concrete examples. Bearing in mind that this is a review paper, the authors should devote significantly more attention to this chapter by providing more specific examples, or else delete it.

Response:

We agree that the former sustainability chapter was too general. The revised manuscript consolidates vineyard-to-bottle environmental management in Section 9, adds Lebanon-specific interpretation of Harb et al. [7] and distinguishes documented case-study evidence from proposed practices. A new subsection describes operational examples and a tiered monitoring program, complementing the quantitative indicator table developed in response to Reviewer 3. Certification is explicitly distinguished from measured outcomes.

The same comment applies to Chapter 7. It is necessary to significantly expand and improve the sections on climate change and its impact on viticulture in Lebanon.

Response:

We have expanded the climate discussion in Section 7.1 by separating national assessments, vineyard-level Lebanese observations and Mediterranean analogues. We describe specific mechanisms involving phenology, evaporative demand and grape composition, identify the limited generalizability of the two-site Cabernet Sauvignon study [8], and specify weather, vine-water and berry-quality measurements for future replicated trials. Unsupported nationwide claims have been avoided.

Chapter 8 mentions economic indicators. Include more specific e-results for these indicators. I also suggest correcting the subtitle, bearing in mind that the first and second paragraphs list aggravating circumstances affecting the wine sector.

Response: 

We thank the reviewer for this recommendation. We have added a dedicated subsection entitled “Economic constraints, export performance and sector competitiveness” within Section 3, preserving the manuscript’s consolidated viticultural structure. The revised subsection now provides dated, source-defined trade indicators from WITS/UN Comtrade for 2023 and 2024, including declared export value, volume, implied unit value and leading destinations. It also distinguishes export statistics from domestic sales, grape production, producer profitability and sector-wide economic impact. We discuss cost, logistics, data availability and market-differentiation constraints as research priorities rather than unsupported quantitative findings.

Chapter 11, which discusses guidelines that may be relevant in the future, should be moved to the end of the paper.

Response: 

Thank you for this recommendation. We have consolidated the forward-looking recommendations within revised Section 10, “Evidence-Based Research Priorities and Implementation,” immediately before the Conclusions. The section now presents a six-pillar framework, with proposed actions, indicators and responsible actors, followed by a phased implementation pathway. Earlier thematic sections retain only the research implications necessary to interpret their respective evidence.

In chapter 12 there are elements related to water and soil. It is possible to incorporate them into the part related to climate change.

Response:

As suggested, the former stand-alone water and soil material is incorporated into Section 7.2 on climate adaptation and resource constraints. The new discussion includes seasonal water budgets, regulated deficit irrigation as a candidate intervention, soil-cover and erosion trade-offs, and proposed site-specific monitoring. Biodiversity and integrated pest management are integrated into Section 7.3 to avoid duplicating the sustainability section.

Chapter 14 is well conceived in its treatment of the new generation and the declining popularity of various wine-drinking habits.

Response:

We appreciate the reviewer’s positive assessment of the discussion of generational differences. We have retained and clarified this topic in revised Section 3.3, “Economic Constraints, Export Performance and Sector Competitiveness.” The discussion distinguishes cohort-based research (Koksal, 2019) from segmentation by wine involvement (Koksal, 2021) and cautions against treating past survey results as evidence of current consumer preferences. It also identifies the need for updated representative surveys and observed purchasing data.

Chapter 16 clearly states the goals and further opportunities for improving viticulture in Lebanon. It is necessary to add to this chapter the earlier articles that I indicated should be moved to the end of the work.

Response: 

We agree. To eliminate overlap, the previously dispersed recommendations have been integrated into revised Section 10 and aligned with Table 4, the six-pillar evidence-to-implementation framework. Repeated lists of research gaps have been removed. Revised Section 11 now provides a concise synthesis and directs readers to the consolidated research agenda rather than introducing another set of recommendations.

 

 

 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear Authors,

I appreciate your work on the preparation and formatting of the manuscript.

My observations and recommendations are:

The manuscript provides an informative and extensive narrative assessment of Lebanese viticulture from a variety of disciplines (archaeology, ampelography, genetics, microbiology, LCA, economics, and tourism). I believe the evidence presented--that Lebanon's competitive edge is place-based distinctiveness, high-altitude terroirs, indigenous germplasm, and cultural value, rather than volume production--was conclusive and well-argued.

Nonetheless, the manuscript contains multiple major and minor structural errors, the absence of critical core framework components, the absence of presentation outputs (figures/tables), and references scattered throughout (raw LaTeX rendering glitches, usually with pauses within citations; systematic punctuation problems). These issues are easy to solve and will improve the quality and impact of your work significantly.

Abstract

+An excellent, tightly-written summary synthesising the core topics of the paper, including grapevine diversity, terroir, climate and territorial branding, with a sufficiently comprehensive overview of main outputs.

-Lines 35-37: The abstract clarifies "six strategic pathways / pillars" conceptually, although this pathways / pillars are left incomplete later in the main text.

 

Introduction

+Establishes the strategic challenge of Lebanese viticulture excellently, emphasising the confluence of the old, 19th-century French import, and twentieth-century globalised production.

+Lines 85-94 give clear review objectives and a strong and reasonable thesis statement: the competitive advantages of the Lebanese grape/wine business are quality, autochthonous germplasm, high-altitude terroirs, and culture, not output.

-Lines 47-48: redundant words

-Lines 51-53: Faulty parallelism. The series lists noun phrases (influence, introduction, phylloxera, disruption) but breaks structure at the end by inserting a temporal prepositional phrase (after the civil war, rapid expansion...).

-Lines 50-54: The transition from the ancient inheritance to the 19th century remake is a touch abrupt; a phrase explaining local viticulture under the Ottomans could help with historical flow.

- Line 54: "Sits between" is overly informal for an academic manuscript.

-Lines 55-56: Subject-verb agreement error. The subject is compound (varietal portfolio and technical language), requiring the plural verb form reflect rather than the singular reflects.

- Line 59: The names of cultivars must be enclosed in quotation marks (in the whole manuscript!!)

-Line 70: Biological species names must be formatted in italics according to standard scientific publishing guidelines.

 

Section 2 (Historical Foundations and the Transformation of Lebanese Vitiviniculture)

+The section grounds the historical narrative in concrete archaeometric evidence (such as the Iron Age lime plaster wine press at Tell el-Burak) rather than relying on uncritical commercial romanticism about Phoenician heritage.

+The text explicitly cautions against overstating continuity between ancient Phoenician practices and modern commercial viticulture, acknowledging the significant historical interruptions caused by geopolitical, religious, and demographic shifts.

+It effectively structures the modernization of Lebanese wine across four distinct eras: early 19th-century French/Jesuit foundations, late 19th-century commercial initiatives (Domaine des Tourelles, 1868), early 20th-century phylloxera restructuring, and post-1990 post-civil war globalization.

+The concluding discussion on "continuity vs. reinvention" provides a compelling framework for how indigenous germplasm, older Mediterranean imports (e.g., ‘Cinsault’), and modern international cultivars can coexist conceptually.

-The narrative jumps from ancient Phoenician exchange to 19th-century Jesuit and French influences. It should briefly explain how table grape cultivation and indigenous germplasm (e.g., ‘Merwah’ and ‘Obeidi’) survived and were managed during the centuries under Ottoman rule.

-The text mentions phylloxera forcing replanting in the Bekaa, but does not specify which American rootstocks were introduced or how this shifted traditional training systems (e.g., bush vines vs. trellising).

Lines 1252–124: Run-on sentence / comma splice. Four independent main clauses are joined solely by commas without coordinating conjunctions (e.g., and) or appropriate punctuation (colons/semicolons) to separate the clauses.

Lines 130–132: Inconsistent verb tense and unnecessary semicolon usage. The sentence shifts from present tense (provides) to past tense (contributed, opened) when describing active historical layers that simultaneously inform present-day viticulture. Replacing semicolons with standard commas creates a smoother, parallel list.

Lines 132–135: Missing serial (Oxford) comma. Because one of the items in the series contains an internal modifier phrase (such as Cinsault), omitting the final serial comma reduces clarity and visual separation between the final two list elements.

Section 3. Geography, Terroir, Viticultural Landscapes, and Regional Diversification

+ The authors properly define terroir beyond physical soil and climate variables, integrating human history, cultural practices, and landscape topology (lines 145–151).

+Subsection 3.1 outlines a concrete, forward-looking strategy through the proposal of a National Terroir Atlas, experimental vineyard networks, and multi-institutional collaboration (LARI, universities, wineries).

+The incorporation of spatial technologies (GIS, drone imagery, remote sensing) to map old-vine parcels, monitor urban encroachment, and identify micro-terroirs adds strong contemporary value to the review.

+Lines 235–239 correctly caution against viewing elevation as a simple panacea for climate change, explicitly highlighting associated risks such as thin soils, frost exposure, wind stress, and water scarcity.

- The paragraph spanning lines 227–239 repeats arguments regarding the Bekaa's dominance, compressed topography, and altitudinal gradients that were already introduced in lines 138–144 and lines 217–219. This creates jarring narrative loops.

- Subsection 3.1 covers too many disparate topics (national branding, experimental vineyard networks, GIS mapping, and Bekaa sub-zonation) under a single heading without structural sub-headings or visual breaks.

- For a section dedicated to spatial geography, terroir, and landscape analysis, the absence of a topographic/viticultural map of Lebanon is a major oversight.

- Lines 175–177: Faulty parallelism and incomplete phrasing. The passive verb interpreted lacks appropriate prepositional balance when contrasting with used as.

-Lines 188–189: Wordy and indirect phrasing. Replace "remain inclusive of"

-Lines 217–218: Faulty parallel structure in a adjectival list. The text mixes noun/directional forms (North, west) with proper adjectival forms (central, southern). All elements must share the same adjectival structure.

-Lines 227–234: Severe structural redundancy. This paragraph re-states basic topographic and geographical facts almost word-for-word from Section 3's introductory paragraph.

Section 4. Grapevine Diversity and the Search for a Distinctive Lebanese Identity

+ The text follows an exemplary academic narrative arc. It moves smoothly from an overarching thesis (broadening the scope of Lebanese viticulture beyond Obeidi and Merwah) to specific empirical findings, followed by broader strategic and practical implications.

+ Uses precise, formal botanical and viticultural nomenclature (e.g., cultivars, accessions, autochthonous, ampelographic, SSR/ISSR markers, synonymy, homonymy, germplasm).

+ Paragraph 5 effectively translates genetic research into three clear, numbered strategic takeaways for conservation, agronomy, and marketing.

+ Sentences alternate well between concise statements of fact and complex compound sentences detailing research methodology and multi-faceted outcomes.

- Lines 251-252: Geographic adjectives modifying material origins lack consistent capitalization ("eastern Mediterranean" and "western European" vs. "Maghrebian").

- In paragraph 3 (lines 255–257), the text introduces "A complementary molecular study..." without providing a citation reference, whereas preceding and succeeding paragraphs explicitly cite [4] and [5].

- The text switches between the simple past tense when reporting study actions ("Merheb et al. [4] collected... "– Line 247) and the present tense ("Khater et al. [5] add..." – Line 262).

- Lines 269–270: "field repositories, on-farm conservation and systematic documentation of old vines, not merely preservation..." Missing comma before "not merely" to clearly set off the contrasting clause.

Section 5 (Vineyard Performance, Winemaking and the Biological Dimension of Terroir)

+This section effectively broadens the traditional concept of terroir by integrating microbiological diversity (native Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains) and traditional enological practices alongside vine physiology.

+ The discussion on traditional products like cooked wines strikes a commendable balance—advocating for scientific and cultural valorization while cautioning against superficial romanticization without empirical safety and quality validation.

+The concluding paragraph (lines 310–316) cleanly synthesizes vine genetics, microbial ecology, cellar practice, and site characteristics into an actionable "layered model of biological terroir".

• The transition from commercial viticulture/microbiology (lines 285–300) to artisanal cooked wine (lines 302–309) feels somewhat disconnected. The authors should explicitly state how traditional fermentation dynamics inform modern, low-intervention, or commercial winemaking strategies.
• Lines 293–295: Taxonomic names of biological species must be italicized according to standard scientific notation guidelines.
• Lines 299–301: "Locally adapted yeast populations can influence fermentation kinetics and aroma development and may provide starter cultures..." - Repetitive use of the conjunction "and" within the same clause ("aroma development and may provide..."), causing clumsy syntax.

Section 6 (Environmental Sustainability from Vineyard to Bottle)

+ Structuring the discussion across three distinct scales (vineyard scale, winery scale, and territorial/landscape scale) provides a comprehensive, systematic framework for evaluating vitivinicultural sustainability.

+ Relying on Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) literature (Harb et al.) adds empirical rigor, correctly directing focus toward supply-chain and post-harvest hotspots (e.g., glass bottle manufacturing, transport) rather than limiting sustainability to vineyard activities alone.

+ Advising a flexible, progressive improvement model rather than an immediate, costly certification scheme appropriately reflects the economic disparities and capital constraints among Lebanese wineries.

- This section heavily duplicates content covered later in Section 12 (Water, Soil, Biodiversity and Agroecological Management) and Section 13 (Sustainability Metrics, Life-Cycle Thinking and Circularity). To streamline the manuscript, these three sections should be consolidated into a single unified sustainability section.

- While LCA is cited to highlight non-vineyard hotspots, the text lacks specific quantitative figures (e.g., percentage contribution of glass packaging to total carbon footprint, specific water usage ratios per liter of wine) that would make the review more impactful.

Lines 334–336: Parallelism and nominalization errors. The list mixes noun phrases (efficient irrigation, erosion prevention), isolated abstract nouns (soil organic matter), and action concepts (cover vegetation). Converting elements into consistent noun/gerund phrases improves flow.

Section 7 (Climate Change, Weather Variability and Vineyard Resilience)

+ The section effectively bridges global/Mediterranean climate change literature (e.g., Costa et al., Lereboullet et al., and the Cypriot Xynisteri stress-response studies) with Lebanon's specific altitudinal and environmental conditions.

+ Rather than relying solely on irrigation as a quick fix, the text outlines a realistic, multi-faceted adaptation portfolio including canopy management, phenological tracking, rootstock screening, and spatial suitability modeling.

+ Lines 386–388 appropriately caution against assuming that native/landrace genotypes are automatically drought- or heat-tolerant simply because of their ancient regional origin, rightly calling for empirical stress testing.

- The warning that elevation/altitude is not a universal solution for climate stress (lines 383–385) repeats points already stated in Section 3 (lines 166–168 and 235–239).

- The final sentence (lines 388–391) references general institutional weaknesses ([28]) without explicitly explaining how these governance constraints impede climate change adaptation efforts.

-Line 390: "Earlier Lebanese sector analysis had already identified structural and institutional weaknesses..."  - Unnecessary past perfect tense (had already identified). Simple past or present perfect tense maintains a smoother narrative flow alongside the rest of the review.

Section 8 (Economic Structure, Competitiveness and the Lebanese Consumer)

+ Incorporates established economic trade theory (Balassa's Revealed Comparative Advantage) and empirical consumer involvement/segmentation literature (Koksal) to evaluate the sector.

+ Correctly identifies that Lebanon cannot compete on volume or price, rightly advocating for value creation through premiumization, authentic origin, gastronomy, and expanding beyond the diaspora market to broader Mediterranean wine enthusiasts.

+ The 3-level model proposed at the end (firm, territorial, and sector level competitiveness) provides a clear, actionable conceptual structure for sectoral development.

• While mentioned briefly in lines 395 and 420, the discussion lacks depth regarding the devastating impact of the ongoing 2019–present Lebanese financial crisis (currency collapse, banking capital controls, hyperinflation, and soaring import costs for bottles, corks, and equipment) on firm survival and export reliance.
• The section discusses export performance and competitiveness purely in abstract/descriptive terms. Including actual trade figures, export volumes, or historical RCA values would significantly strengthen the analysis.
• Line 397: Unnecessary hyphenation of a standard, established economic trade term (revealed comparative advantage).
• Lines 423–427: Parallelism and punctuation error within a complex, semicolon-delimited list. Each internal sub-list requires proper comma separation before the coordinating conjunction and.

Section 9 (Wine Landscapes, Cultural Heritage and Tourism)

+ Integrates foundational wine-tourism literature (e.g., Getz, Mitchell & Hall) alongside relevant Mediterranean comparative cases (e.g., Alicante Wine Route, Cypriot landscape vulnerability, and the "eno-slow" tourism concept).

+ Introduces the concept of "coopetition" (cooperative competition) as a realistic mechanism for Lebanese wineries to pool marketing, routing, and digital infrastructure while preserving individual brand distinctiveness.

+ Wisely avoids over-romanticizing tourism growth, explicitly addressing over-tourism pressures (water demands, traffic, loss of agricultural land, architectural disruption) and emphasizing protective territorial planning.

• While advocating for regional routes and collective marketing, the section omits details on governance structure or funding models (e.g., role of the Union Vinicole du Liban, Ministry of Tourism, or local municipal clusters).
• While highlighting wildfire risks in Cyprus, the text overlooks Lebanon's specific systemic impediments to tourism, such as regional geopolitical volatility, power grid instability, and transportation infrastructure deficits.
• Lines 438–439: "...distinctive wine-tourism offer:" - Noun choice error. Using "offer" as a noun in this context is informal; "offering" or "product" is the standard academic

Section 10 (Governance, Regulation and Territorial Branding)

+ The proposed three-phase roadmap for appellation development (Phase 1: registry and traceability; Phase 2: zoning; Phase 3: voluntary GIs) is exceptionally well-conceived. It avoids imposing rigid European-style GI frameworks before establishing basic administrative infrastructure.

+ Line 492–497 provides an astute critique of regional storytelling, advocating for evidence-based differentiation without collapsing nuanced history (Phoenician heritage, modern landscapes, and distinct cultivars like Obeidi and Merwah) into romanticized marketing myths.

+ Highlighting the need for standardized climate, sustainability, and genetic protocols across institutions (LARI, universities, private wineries) correctly identifies a major operational bottleneck in current sector research.

• While the three-phase approach is sound, the text does not account for the current functional limits of Lebanese public institutions. Without detailing alternative execution pathways (e.g., inter-winery consortiums or public-private partnerships), relying on state-level registries may prove unrealistic.
• The discussion on institutional fragmentation and the role of the National Wine Institute repeats core arguments already introduced in Section 3.1 and Section 7, which could be streamlined to avoid redundancy.

Section 11 (An Integrated Framework for the Future of Lebanese Wine)

+ Defining the core unit of analysis as the "vineyard-winery-territory system" (lines 511–512) rather than looking at individual bottles or wineries in isolation is an exemplary, modern agroecological and socio-economic approach.

+ Line 508–511 explicitly acknowledges that environmental practices must align with commercial viability to survive, bridging environmental science with business reality.

+ The section avoids dogmatic nationalism regarding grape varieties by establishing a realistic hierarchy of origin—recognizing that long-established varieties like Cinsault hold valid historical and cultural significance alongside autochthonous genotypes (e.g., Obeidi, Merwah) and international varieties.

+ Correctly identifies data networks, extension services, emergency planning, and research infrastructure as collective public goods requiring institutional coordination rather than fragmented firm-level efforts.

• Line 499 -500 explicitly states that the future framework should be "organized around six mutually reinforcing pillars," yet the text fails to enumerate, define, or list what these six pillars actually are. This creates a major gap in the section's logic.
• As a concluding synthesis framework, the section remains purely abstract and descriptive, omitting actionable steps, timeline phases, or organizational leadership assignments required to turn this vision into practice.

Section 12 (Water, Soil, Biodiversity and Agroecological Management)

+ This section provides an exceptionally thorough breakdown of vineyard resource management, covering water dynamics, soil health, landscape biodiversity, integrated pest management (IPM), and old-vine conservation.

+ The text rightly cautions against blanket solutions (e.g., noting that cover crops can compete with vines for water in arid microclimates, line 536–538, and calling for "site-specific soil stewardship" rather than "universal greening").

+ Connecting old, abandoned, and marginal vineyards to informal reservoirs of genetic diversity (citing Merheb et al. [4] and related work) effectively ties conservation science to cultural heritage and future climate resilience.

• As noted in peer reviews of preceding sections, Section 12 heavily duplicates topics already introduced in Section 6 (Environmental Sustainability) and Section 7 (Climate Change). Soil management, irrigation efficiency, and LCA considerations should be merged into a single consolidated sustainability section.
• Despite discussing water stress and winery wastewater generation, the section lacks concrete numeric metrics (e.g., target water-use efficiency ratios in L of water/L of wine, or soil organic matter target percentages) to ground the recommendations.
• Lines 567–568: "...represent both cultural and biological loss." - Article agreement / pluralization error. Singular count nouns modified by coordinate adjectives paired with "both... and" require matching articles or pluralization for parallel structure.

Section 13 (Sustainability Metrics, Life-Cycle Thinking and Circularity)

+ Proposing a tiered national sustainability model (progressing from baseline regulatory compliance to verified improvements) is exceptionally well-suited to Lebanon's economically diverse winery landscape, avoiding the financial barrier of costly international certifications.

+ Clear, practical strategy for valorizing winemaking by-products (pomace, stems, lees, and wastewater) based on winery scale rather than imposing blanket technological requirements.

+ Correctly extends sustainability beyond environmental indicators to include socio-economic dimensions such as fair grower relationships, local employment, and community pressures arising from wine tourism.

+ The proposed core-plus-optional indicators framework allows for standardized national benchmarking while accommodating niche microclimates, tourism operations, and high-altitude vineyards.

• This section repeatedly covers concepts previously detailed in Section 6 (Environmental Sustainability) and Section 12 (Agroecological Management), such as Life-Cycle Assessment (Harb et al. [7]), bottle weight reduction, and wastewater treatment. These three sections should be merged into a unified sustainability chapter.
• Although the text calls for replacing qualitative claims with measurable metrics (e.g., water per liter of wine, energy intensity, packaging weight), it fails to provide quantitative target ranges or industry benchmarks to evaluate current performance.
• Lines 618–619: "...certification should follow measurement rather than substitute for it." - Faulty parallel structure. The gerund construction following "rather than" should match the implied prepositional object phrasing (follow measurement rather than substituting for it).

Section 14 (Identity, Authenticity, Consumer Perception and Market Differentiation)

+ Rather than relying on rigid, romanticized views of "purity," the section embraces the genetic complexity of Lebanese germplasm (Merheb et al. [4]), establishing a multi-tiered narrative that honors genuinely local cultivars, shared Mediterranean material, historically established varieties (like Cinsault), and adapted international grapes.

+ Connecting indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae populations (Feghali et al. [6]) and traditional cooked wine fermentations (Bechara et al. [24]) to verifiable, scientific definitions of heritage gives "authenticity" measurable scientific weight.

+ The text correctly balances enthusiasm for rediscovering rare local cultivars with commercial realism—noting that novelty alone does not guarantee wine quality or market acceptance without sensory validation, sommelier education, and consumer communication strategies.

• Summarizing generational and involvement-based consumer segmentation (Koksal [36, 37]) repeats points made almost identically in Section 8.
• While calling for market research on consumer willingness to pay for organic, native, or sustainable claims, the text provides no preliminary economic or survey metrics regarding price premiums for Lebanese wines in target export markets.
• Lines 648–650: "...Castriota and Delmastro [61] analyze the economics of collective reputation and minimum quality standards, while Rocchi and Gabbai [62] show how territorial identity can operate..." - Tense inconsistency across review sections. Standardizing cited literature reviews into the past tense maintains stylistic consistency with previous sections.
• Lines 667–668 : "...eastern Mediterranean, Maghreb and Europe." - Missing definite article and capitalization errors. "Maghreb" requires the definite article (the Maghreb), and regional descriptors functioning as proper geographical adjectives should be capitalized.

Section 15 (Mediterranean Comparisons and Lessons for Lebanon)

+ The section rightly emphasizes that comparative analysis should identify "transferable principles rather than copying institutional models" (lines 705–706).

+ Drawing parallels with Cyprus (shared Eastern Mediterranean climate, island/mountain geography, Xynisteri stress tolerance, and historical landscape dynamics via Papadias et al. [21]) provides a directly applicable blueprint for Lebanese viticultural research.

+ Explicitly warns against idealizing traditional viticulture, noting that landraces can have agronomic flaws, traditional landscapes can be economically fragile, and unchecked tourism threatens local land and water resources (lines 746–749).

+ The final paragraph cleanly distills the core actionable methodology for sector development: document resources, measure performance, test adaptation options, coordinate stakeholders, and differentiate through verified local attributes.

- Nearly all case studies and literature cited here (e.g., Costa et al., Lereboullet et al., Alicante Wine Route, Prosecco landscape, coopetition, and "eno-slow" tourism) were already analyzed in detail in Sections 7, 8, 9, 12, and 14. Synthesizing these earlier instead of re-introducing them would significantly tighten the manuscript.

- While advocating for climate suitability mapping modeled after Greek studies [65], the text does not detail the specific GIS layers, meteorological datasets, or spatial resolutions required for Lebanon's microclimates.

- Lines 735–738: "Lebanon’s compact geography makes it possible to connect wine with villages, cuisine, archaeology, natural areas and mountain landscapes within short itineraries, potentially creating a differentiated experience compared with large, automobile-dependent wine regions." - "Archaeology" is an academic discipline; "archaeological sites" is the appropriate physical destination noun required for parallel listing with "villages" and "natural areas." Additionally, replacing "compared with" with "relative to" improves stylistic flow.

Section 16 (Research Gaps and Priorities)

+ Enumerating seven distinct, logical research priorities (database creation, functional testing, long-term observatories, benchmarking, microbial terroir, socio-economic updating, and spatial landscape mapping) provides a clear and actionable agenda for researchers and policymakers.

+The section rightly notes that genetic novelty must be paired with "replicated agronomic and oenological trials" across microclimates (lines 759–763), preventing hype around indigenous varieties without proven winemaking quality.

+ Highlighting GIS, remote sensing, and spatially explicit landscape research (lines 781–784) directly addresses modern threats like urbanization, land abandonment, and wildfire risk in vineyard ecosystems.

• While setting ambitious research goals, the text does not address who will fund or coordinate these efforts (e.g., LARI, universities, National Wine Institute, or international grants), which is critical given Lebanon's current public resource constraints.
• Several proposed gaps—such as database creation, life-cycle benchmarking, and consumer segmentation updates—simply repeat recommendations made in Sections 10, 13, and 14 rather than framing them strictly as research methodologies.
• Lines 774–776: "...multi-region and multi-vintage work is needed..." - Subject-verb agreement / idiomatic phrasing. "Work" is uncountable, but paired with "multi-region and multi-vintage," countable nouns like "studies" or "trials" with plural agreement (are needed) are more standard in formal research writing.

Section 17 (Conclusions)

+ The conclusions cleanly unify the core themes of the manuscript, shifting the overarching focus away from romanticized promotional claims toward evidence-based differentiation (genetics, microbiota, LCA, and altitudinal microclimates).

+ Reframing Lebanon’s small production scale as a competitive advantage for high-value niche positioning—rather than a structural weakness to be resolved through volume—is an insightful strategic pivot.

+ Prioritizing "knowledge infrastructure" (registries, observatories, trials, and metrics) as equal in importance to marketing provides a balanced, sustainable roadmap for sector development.

+ The section synthesizes the core takeaway effectively: establishing that a credible sector identity rests on the integration of place, biodiversity, culture, quality, and stewardship rather than any single grape variety or historical claim.

• While outlining necessary next steps (data collection, germplasm conservation, climate observatories), the conclusion fails to specify which entities (e.g., National Wine Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, LARI, or private consortiums) should lead and fund these initiatives.
• The text reiterates the exact list of technical priorities (observatories, data, indicators) already detailed in Sections 11 and 16 without adding new synthesized conclusions or economic perspectives.
• Lines 795–797: "...characterized by altitudinal diversity, distinctive grape resources, layered cultural landscapes, gastronomy and experiential tourism." - Parallelism error. Abstract descriptive nouns paired with modified noun phrases (altitudinal diversity, distinctive grape resources, layered cultural landscapes) benefit from parallel modifier structures (e.g., rich gastronomy) for improved rhythm and readability.

Missing Oxford (serial) comma in multiple sentences (whole manuscript)

References

+ The reference list provides exceptional coverage across all core domains of the manuscript, including archaeology and history (McGovern, Unwin, Orsingher et al., Barnard et al.), genetics and ampelography (Merheb et al., Khater et al.), wine microbiology (Feghali et al., Bechara et al.), agricultural economics and trade (El Chami & El Moujabber, Balassa, Vollrath, Krugman), wine tourism (Koksal, Gómez et al., Marco-Lajara et al.), and climate adaptation (Costa et al., van Leeuwen et al., OIV).

+ Features recent scholarly literature (including 2024, 2025, and 2026 publications) alongside seminal foundational works, reflecting a contemporary evidence base.

- High proportion of peer-reviewed sources specifically focused on Lebanese viticulture, Bekaa valley terroir, native cultivars (e.g., Merwah), and broader Eastern Mediterranean comparative frameworks.

-Severe formatting errors appear systematically across author lists (e.g., concatenated .,; or ,; before final authors), journal titles (semicolons used in place of ampersands), and volume/issue/page specifications.

- Inconsistent author formatting (mixing explicit "et al." with full author listings), inconsistent volume/page delimiters (mixing colons and commas), and incomplete metadata for conference papers and theses (e.g., Refs 19, 43, 44, and 50 lack full retrieval details or institutional publishers).

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Moderate Editing Required (primarily due to formatting artifacts)

Author Response

We thank the reviewer for the detailed and constructive assessment. We have revised the organization and content to sharpen the horticultural focus, reduce repetition, strengthen quantitative and implementation discussions, and improve nomenclature and presentation. 

The reviewer’s line numbers refer to the original submitted manuscript. Revised section references should be verified against the final manuscript.

 

Geography: repetition and subsection structure

Response: We removed a redundant recapitulation of Lebanese altitude and topography, introduced a separate subsection on the scope and limitations of regional spatial evidence, and retained the site-specific caution on altitude. Revised Section 4.

Geographical map of Lebanon

Response: We agree that a geographic figure would improve the article. We added a detailed specification for a reproducible vineyard map and clarified the distinction between wineries and vineyard parcels. A publication-quality map is NOT YET included; this request remains open pending verifiable geospatial data and figure permissions.

GIS data and spatial resolution

Response: We specified necessary layers (administrative boundaries, DEM, aspect/slope, vineyard parcels, climate, soils and water) and requirements to disclose resolution and uncertainty. Revised Section 4.1.

Governance and financing of research priorities

Response: We added a conditional consortium-led pathway, differentiated scientific and regulatory roles, possible funding sources, and phased milestones with verification gates. Revised Section 10.

Six pillars and actionability

Response: The six pillars and proposed indicators were already incorporated in Table 7 following Reviewer 3; the new implementation paragraphs strengthen the allocation of responsibilities and staged financing.

Limitations

Response: The proposed time frames and institutions are recommendations, not approved mandates or secured financing. Historical rootstock identities and quantitative environmental benchmarks remain subject to source verification.

Evidence and figure verification

External cross-check: Lebanese IDAL investment publications (2017–2018) reproduce a wine-region map credited to JF Hillebrand (2016); Mohasseb et al. (2020) report the distribution of wineries. These do not establish a current parcel-level map, and reproducing the historical graphic may require permission. Suggested source: https://investinlebanon.gov.lb/Content/uploads/SideBlock/180906023910464~INVESTMENT%20OPPORTUNITIES%20IN%20BEKAA%202018.pdf

Historical continuity / Ottoman period

Response: We expanded the historical section to acknowledge family/village grape cultivation and arak production, while explicitly avoiding undocumented claims of continuous cultivation of named varieties throughout Ottoman rule.

Phylloxera and rootstock identification

Response: We distinguished a FAO historical account of phylloxera and soil-based rootstock selection from rootstock names documented in a much later Lebanese survey (41B, 1103P, 110R and 140Ru). We do not claim these were the rootstocks originally introduced or that phylloxera caused a proven nationwide training-system transition.

Cultivation and rootstock practices

Response: We added survey-derived Lebanese planting-density and rootstock observations and distinguished them from general management recommendations.

Cooked-wine transition / fermentation biology

Response: We clarified how stress-adapted microorganisms and experimental methods in cooked-wine research may inform controlled starter-strain screening without implying direct transfer to conventional dry wine production.

Cultivar typography and species italics

Response: Manuscript-wide quotation marks for cultivar names and italics for biological species remain part of the final typography audit; these have not yet been certified as fully corrected.

Sustainability sections 6, 12 and 13: duplication and quantitative benchmarks

Response: The sustainability material was already consolidated into revised Section 9, with climate and resource-management mechanisms retained in Section 7. We have now added explicit reporting units for irrigation, winery water, energy, packaging, emissions and soil carbon, and explained why unsupported national targets and glass-packaging percentage contributions are not stated.

Climate/water/soil: numerical metrics

Response: We added operational definitions and denominators for water and soil indicators, distinguished irrigation water productivity from total water-use productivity, and clarified that site-specific baseline measurements are needed before setting Lebanese thresholds.

Economic structure: financial crisis and export figures

Response: We expanded Section 3.3 to discuss post-2019 monetary and financing pressures as potential firm-level mechanisms. Existing 2023–2024 HS 2204 export values, quantities and unit-value ratios were retained. We explicitly explain why a historical RCA value cannot be computed without matched trade denominators.

Identity, consumers and price premiums

Response: We retained the documented Lebanese generational and involvement-based segmentation, but identify export-market willingness-to-pay premiums as unmeasured. We propose choice experiments and matched-market evidence instead of inventing percentages.

Tourism governance, funding and infrastructure

Response: We added a voluntary winery/municipal/tourism-operator coordination pathway, conditional financing options, measurable economic and environmental tourism indicators, and Lebanon-specific transport, electricity and geopolitical constraints.

Evidence limitations and final verification

Response: The new material distinguishes published measurements, calculated trade ratios, proposed units and unverified policy targets.

1. Systematic language, punctuation, and parallelism

Response: We reviewed the integrated manuscript for grammatical consistency and revised identified wording and punctuation where supported.

2. Cultivar naming conventions

Response: We standardized in-text cultivar designations using single quotation marks where safely identifiable. The manuscript should undergo a final manual check for names split across formatting runs and in tables.

3. Scientific species names

Response: We italicized identified complete binomial expressions in the manuscript.

4. Geographical organization and section numbering

Response: We corrected the duplicated subsection number in Section 4: the second 4.1 is now 4.2. The integrated structure remains eleven main sections.

5. Reference-list punctuation

Response: We normalized clearly malformed punctuation sequences in reference author lists. Bibliographic records require verification against original journal metadata before submission; no missing publication metadata have been invented.

6. Citation and bibliography integrity

Response: The integrated manuscript still contains provisional bibliography entries and editorial verification notes. Numeric in-text citations have been globally renumbered.

 

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript brings together a broad body of Lebanese research on grapevine genetic resources, fermentation microbiology, environmental performance, and vineyard responses to weather variability. This multidisciplinary perspective provides a strong foundation for a critical narrative review of Lebanese vitiviniculture. However, the current version does not describe how the literature was identified, selected, and assessed, nor does it consistently distinguish between scientific evidence, policy recommendations, and market-oriented proposals. Substantial restructuring is therefore required to clarify the scope of the review, critically evaluate the available evidence, and align the conclusions with the strength of that evidence. The references and in-text citations also require systematic revision, and the manuscript would benefit from comprehensive English-language editing before it can be considered for publication.  In addition, the manuscript is potentially suitable for the Horticulturae Special Issue, but its current emphasis on tourism, branding, governance, and territorial development weakens its fit with the Special Issue. The article should be refocused as a critical viticultural review, with market and territorial considerations presented as secondary outcomes of documented vineyard and grapevine characteristics.

Attached are my general questions and suggestions, and some language and style comments. 

 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

We thank the reviewer for this important recommendation. We agree that the previous version gave disproportionate attention to marketing, tourism, governance, and territorial development relative to the viticultural evidence. We have prepared a revised structure that places grapevine genetic resources, cultivar and clone characterization, vineyard environments and performance, phenology, berry quality, water and soil constraints, pest and disease management, fermentation microbiology, and climate adaptation at the center of the review. Previously separate discussions of tourism, consumer behavior, branding, and governance were substantially shortened and consolidated as secondary implementation considerations, linked only to documented viticultural characteristics. Mediterranean comparisons were incorporated within the corresponding scientific sections and clearly differentiated from findings observed in Lebanon. We identified topics for which Lebanese evidence is insufficient rather than imply that established national conclusions can be drawn. These changes were intended to improve the scientific focus and alignment of the manuscript with the Special Issue.

Attached is our response to the 13 comments.

Thank you again.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear authors,

Congratulations for the work put into improving the manuscript. 

All the work contributed to a superior scientific and academic quality of the manuscript.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf