(USAToday) - As the U.S. was bombing Islamic State militants in Syria last week, eight wine experts were invited to the Ledbury, a two Michelin-star restaurant in West London, to sample the latest vintage from the Syrian winery Domaine de Bargylus.

For these red and white wines, it was the culmination of a remarkable journey that began in soil that was once a cradle of winemaking but now is the site of a bloody civil war that has killed more than 200,000 people in the past three years.

Domaine de Bargylus, founded in 2004 by Lebanese-Syrian brothers Karim and Sandro Saadé, has not allowed the country's civil conflict stop production, at least for the time being.

Their wines may be thrilling international wine experts, but the war has made winemaking a daunting and dangerous task. Constant fighting, kidnappings and confiscating raw materials — even the wines themselves — have slowed the movement of people and goods. The airstrikes on Islamic State positions by the U.S.-led coalition have not helped.

"We are confronted to the hardest conditions a wine producer may face today," Karim Saadé said.

Indeed, the civil war in Syria, triggered initially by a wave of peaceful protests against President Bashar Assad, has decimated the economy.

"I can't visit the vineyard anymore," said Stéphane Derenoncourt, the winery's internationally renowned French consultant who communicates with the staff via Internet and Skype calls.

The emergence of extremist groups in Syria also means an increasing number of kidnappings that target foreigners.