It’s Father’s Day and I decided to go all out with Filet Mignon, steamed Artichokes and a bottle of 1997 Musar.  I recently drank a bottle of the 1999 Musar in Hong Kong, where it brought back great memories of this awesome winery.  I visited them in 2007 and still have four Magnums of various vintages that I brought back.  Diet be damned, I mixed up some tarragon mayonnaise, melted butter and got totally stuck in to some amazing steaks that just came out of my Big Green Egg.

When I tried to open it the cork crumbled.  I had a moment of panic until I managed to coax out the other half.  I was not sure of any floating bits so I ran the first glass through the filtered Vinturi to make sure all was well.  The wine was sublime, typical for the untypical style of this winery.  It showed off orange edges on a red framed body.  The nose was so amazing with perfumes of violets, funk, earth, wild berries and creosote.  I was preparing myself for the oncoming rush of flavors.

A really fresh palate of damson, blueberries, red currants, mint, sage and barnyard were the first impressions.  A crispy acidity pushed through and revealed the well integrated tannins.  Road tar was the component I kept missing all evening, it hit me in the middle of the night.  It’s funny how that could be considered a flavor or smell that would appeal to wine drinkers, yet it does- just like funk and cat’s pee in other varietals.  Speaking of varietals… This wine is a blend of Cinsault, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan.  It reminds me of aged Barolo, perhaps Burgundy with a Bordeaux strain.  It is magical and alluring.

As the night progressed, so did the bottle.  Initially I was going with 94 points, but the ever present acidity was a touch too much for me and eventually came across as sour cherries. With this detractor I had to drop it to 93, still an impressive score in my opinion.  I believe I paid $36 for it back in the day making it a 5 star effort.  Salut….

Taken in 2007 on my visit to the winery

The Filet Mignons