Michael Karam

Michael Ramzi Karam (born 1 May 1965 in London, England) is an English-born, Lebanese author, journalist and wine writer. He is notably the author of Wines of Lebanon

Career

Michael Karam began his career as a journalist in Beirut. He founded the listings magazine What's On in 1996 before moving to the Beirut Daily Star in early 1998 as Features editor. He left the Daily star in 2000. Between 2002 and 2007, Karam was also the editor of Executive, a Lebanese business magazine.

In 2007, he was appointed executive director of New Opinion Workshop and NowLebanon, a post he held until March 2009. His writings on politics, business, war and wine have appeared in "The Spectator", "The Times", "Esquire", "Decanter", "Harpers Wine and Spirits weekly" and "Monocle".

In 2005, his first book Wines of Lebanon,^[1] which won the 2005 Gourmand Award for best book on New World Wine. Norbert Schiller was the photographer. His second book, Arak And Mezze: The Taste Of Lebanon is about Lebanon's national drink and what best to eat with it, was shortlisted for the Gourmand award for Best Food and Travel Book 2007. Norbert Schiller was also the photographer.

He is a contributor to the "Oxford Companion to Wine" (Oxford University Press), "The World Atlas of Wine" (7th ed.) and the award winning "Wine Report" (Dorling Kindersley).

He has since written "Château Ksara: 150 years of wine making 1957-2007" (Vinehouse) and in October 2010, he published Michael Karam's Lebanese Wines 2011,^[2] a pocket paperback and first comprehensive guide to all the Lebanese wines currently on the market. Karam still writes on Lebanese affairs for The National and on wine, mostly for "Harpers Wine and Spirits weekly".

Collaborations

He has been named a trustee of the Lebanese Wine Museum, due to open in 2015 and is currently working with Dr Patrick McGovern from University of Pennsylvania on a book on the origins of ancient wine in the Levant.

Personal

He is married and has two children in Beirut, Lebanon.

References