Perched in the hills just south of Tripoli, Lebanon is this relatively new winery. Built to be ‘green’ they have won awards for their design and production. The winemaker was a really nice Spanish gent who communicated in French through my uncle. I may have missed a few comments, lost in the translation, but the wines were impressive. We drank their white straight form the tank- a blend that included Muscat which really excites me. It was fragrant, medium bodied and delicious. Sampling reds from the barrel was a delight. We got to see the blending room and also the cellars. A fascinating winery with some excellent potential. Mark my words, in 10 years time this wine will be very sought after. Salut….
The last time I visited Musar was in 2007 with my dad. The same lady that guided us then was there this time- small world. My uncle and I started the tour with a visit to the cellars where thousands upon thousands of bottles lay, waiting for the right time. Behind locked gates were library wines back to the beginning of this iconic winery’s inception. The wines of Musar are known to be very cellar worthy and can last a long, long time.
The tasting started with their entry level white, rosé and red followed by the flagship white- a blend of Obeidi and Merwah. Complex and layered with fruit and tertiary notes, we would revisit this wine AFTER tasting the reds- pretty bold move.
The mid level red was very good, fresh and easy to drink. The top level cuvee, from 2015 was youthful, tight but brimming with potential. I love this wine, in youth and in maturity. We tasted the white again, which was an interesting experiment. The tertiary notes really started to evolve after some time- a profound wine with complexity that will only deepen as time goes on. From the 2013 vintage, it too is a young wine. I did not appreciate their whites when I first tried them years ago, I think they need plenty of cellaring and good decant, a point I will stick to with the bottles I brought home. Speaking of which- I took two bottles to a tasting in the UK. The 1996 red was in the top 3 wines of the night against some pretty heavy hitters. The 1998 white was sublime and open for business.
It was a treat to visit the winery and taste their offerings. Salut….
When I select wines for our Virtual Wine Tasting Company I save one for the last bottle in the series. We have drunk various vintages of Chateau Musar but this closer was the most controversial of them all and also my wine of the night/series/case etc. I loved it. Others hated it.
Pale to medium garnet it is textbook Musar in appearance with that gorgeous orange tint in the glass. Also textbook- sweaty horse aromas with stewed cherry, strawberry compote, tobacco, leather and Brett. Right up my alley. The palate is dry with medium (-) acidity, medium (-) tannins and pronounced flavors of baked cherry, pomegranate syrup, tobacco, leather, earth and a touch of that funk. Extremely well balanced, this medium bodied wine showed off a long finish- very impressive for a bottle with 22 years of age. A spectacular wine that I awarded 94 points to and will look for again. An equal blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Carignan runs $72 a bottle it gets 5 stars from me. Pairing-wise it is difficult to imaging drinking this wine with any food. It has such unique, amazing flavors that need to be savored in isolation. Salut….
If you read my previous post about the Basque white we enjoyed at dinner, this is the follow up wine we ordered to accompany the Crescent Duck Breast, Young Broccoli, Rhubarb and Black Barley dish. Spectacular is what I remember as there were no notes taken. At 6 years of age this bottle looked a bit beat up but tasted great. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with Cab Franc, Syrah and Cinsault thrown in for good measure it combines red fruit aromas/flavors with nicely integrated oak, supple tannins and spice box nuance alongside some tertiary notes of leather and tobacco. Really great mouthfeel and a decent length finish. If tasted properly I would score this 91 points and give it a drink till 2028 window to pair with red meat, Duck (obviously!) or even a hearty Ragout. Yummy stuff to be had for under $20 that gets 5 stars from me. Salut….
I am cooking Middle Eastern fare so this blend of 40% Syrah, 25% Cab Sav, 20% Tempranillo and 15% Cinsault should go nicely. It’s a deep ruby, almost opaque. I get spices and brambly fruit on the nose. Black currants, blackberry, plum and licorice. There is also a smell that I can only describe as ‘purple fruit’. It is mesmerizing. The palate is dry with juicy acidity, nicely integrated tannins and lots of brooding dark fruit. The purple factor is missing but I do get some meaty undertones along with some oak nuance by way of charred wood and the spices I caught on the nose. Medium weight body and decently long finish. The tannins are a little more grippy on the back end and balance out the acidity nicely, which is exactly what I need for the fatty lamb kofta skewers. I like this wine, the varietals each contribute nicely to the package and it has good mouthfeel, even though it is still youthful. I would drink till 2028 at the least. This $15 wine gets 89 points from me and 4 stars. Salut….
It’s Thanksgiving and I am pouring this Cabernet Sauvignon. But here’s the kicker, this wine is so unique that it doesn’t even look like a Cab. Blended with Cinsault and Carignan it always shows a very pale reddish orange hue in the glass. It looks like aged Burgundy. The nose is as expected- full of earth, stewed cherry, forest floor, strawberry, red licorice, pomegranate, dried cranberry, meaty, farmyard….. Wow. The palate is super smooth. Slightly tart, it has very fine-grained tannins and complex flavors of red fruit, oaky notes of toast and layers of tertiary flavors like farmyard, stewed fruit, dried fruit and meat. The body is light to medium and the finish is long. Another spectacular bottle of Lebanese decadence that will drink well forever. The last ’98 Musar I had was in Magnum, this one a bit more developed but showing no signs of throttling back. Read about my last tasting here. This truly is a remarkable wine that gets 94 points. At $80 it is a 5 star treat. Salut….
I bought this aged Lebanese blend of 50% Cab Sav, 40% Mourvedre and 10% Syrah from Quebec. It’s starting to turn garnet but is opaque in the glass with nice legs showing off the potent 15% ABV. The nose is quite intense with lovely aromas of blackberry, blackcurrant, charcoal, black plum, cloves, chocolate nibs and espresso bean. The palate is young with grippy tannins and gentle acidity. The flavors are all black fruit and oak driven. The tannic grip is a little overpowering for the fruit on the initial attack but I do get the flavors on the mid palate. Full bodied. The finish is medium but quite dry from the tannins that coat my tongue and gums. There is a depth of flavor I sense that will make this wine really shine in the future. It may be 9 years old already but it’s an infant- powerful and layered, it will drink nicely from 2024-2030. 92 points for this $42 bottle make it a 5 star effort. Salut….
It’s Middle Eastern cuisine tonight so I pulled out this Lebanese blend of 35% Cab Sav, 26% Caladoc (?), 22% Syrah and 17% Tempranillo. Interesting varietals all mixed together. The wine itself is semi opaque in the glass and has medium intensity aromas of red currants, raspberry, blackberry and cloves. The palate is dry but has a blackberry jam sweetness to it, I doubt there’s any residual sugar here, it just tastes that way. The black and red fruit components are well balanced with the lithe tannins and medium acidity. There is a black tea hint on the mid-palate and I also get charcoal on the back end. The finish is mid length and tasty. There is a medium weight body to this wine and good mouthfeel. I am enjoying it and think it’s a 90 pointer that gets 5 stars for the reasonable $15 price point. Drink till 2025 with grilled meats aka shish kebab! Salut….
Here is my class note on a wine I have tasted before that is divine and should feature in any cellar worth its salt. For $55, it’s not a cheap intro to these two unique grapes that make the blend, but this winery has done something very special here and it needs to be tried. I am going with 91 points and 4 stars. Salut….
Chateau Musar White 2010, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon 12.5% ABV
Appearance- deep gold.
Nose- pronounced aromas of lemon, grapefruit, quince, wet stones, passion fruit, blossom, acacia and nuts. Developing.
Palate- dry, medium acidity, medium alcohol, medium (+) body, medium (+) intensity flavors of lemon, grapefruit, quince, wet stones, passion fruit, blossom, acacia and nuts with a long finish.
Conclusion- very good quality wine that can be drunk now, but has potential for aging.
An amazing blend of Merwah and Obaideh from my native Lebanon. These two grapes are thought to be closely related to Semillon and Chardonnay. This is a young wine at 10 years of age from this iconic winery who make whites that will outlast their reds. A cellar tour in 2008 showed thousands of bottles that were vinted in the 1930’s and ‘40s. Their wines are long lived even though the acidity is not high, a strange phenomenon. The body is quite weighty even though the alcohol is relatively low. Delicious now, this will no doubt start to gain more tertiary flavors and aromas and continue to evolve for many years to come. Unique stuff.
Our second wine of the 16th virtual wine tasting gave me pause in deciding it’s drinking order. I originally wanted to showcase this icon as the finale of our session, but after careful consideration felt it was best to go before the younger, bolder wines- it was a good call.
Chateau Musar at pretty much any age will have an orange tinge, or bricking. It’s also usually about 50% opaque. This blend of Carignan, Cinsault and Cabernet Sauvignon never looks brooding in the glass. I asked the group for their comments when we started smelling the wine. “Heaven” was the first I heard- very appropriate. We also noted strawberry, leather, black pepper (?), cured meat, garrigue, black cherry, funk, barnyard, new-purse leather, dirt, smoke and earth. These are awesome descriptors from the group, yet I still feel we have missed out on some more. The nose was amazing.
On the palate this beauty is deceiving- delicate, yet powerful. Flavors of cracked pepper, cherry, leather, spice, raspberry jelly and baked cherry compote. The smoothness of this wine is above reproach. The tannins so well integrated and the gobs of acidity so well disguised. I think the gaminess and dried prune notes were my highlight. I was so happy to have been able to present this tremendous wine to my friends, who for the most part loved it. I awarded a perfect 20 points on the tasting scale. Technically speaking, it gets 95 real points and at $75, five stars. I would imagine this one has a long tasting window but make sure you have a two-pronged wine opener, the corks gave issue to several bottles. Salut….
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