Ageing advice

Hi,

Normally when I buy a wine from a specialist retailer, I can ask how long they think I ought to store it for before drinking. However, I was given some presents of wine bottles over Christmas, and I'd appreciate any advice you can give on how long they should/could be kept for.

Simonnet-Febvre 2006 Chablis (Drink now I would have guessed)
Ch Landat 2000 (Drink now or keep a couple more years)
Ch Musar 2001 "Hochar" (This seems to be a Lebanese imitation of Bordeaux - and I've had some good Lebanese whites in the past. Drink now, I would have thought)
La Piazza 2006 Chardonnay Vigonier (This is Sicilian - drink now I guess)
Laboure-Roi 2006 Chablis Premier Cru (This I'm unsure about. I'd normally keep Premier Cru Chablis, but I know this was pretty cheap and it's not single vinyard)

As an aside, I know one should normally store wine on it's side to ensure the cork stays moist. But with a screw cap wine which one is intending to keep for a while, can they be stored upright?

Cheers,
Matt

[Robin Garr]

Ch Musar 2001 "Hochar" (This seems to be a Lebanese imitation of Bordeaux - and I've had some good Lebanese whites in the past. Drink now, I would have thought)

Matt, it sounds like you had an excellent Christmas! I won't comment specifically on the others, though at a glance it appears your instincts are sound. The Hochar, though, is quite an interesting exception: Although made in Lebanon (by a producer of French heritage), it's an excellent and extremely ageworthy wine. Subject to dramatic vintage variation - it can be insanely funky, in a good way - both red and white Musar can last for many years, even decades. Red Musars of the '90s and even the '80s are drinking well now, and like Bordeaux of the older style, it really should not be drunk until it matures.

Otto in Finland is a great advocate of Musar, and I'm sure he'll be along soon with more specific advice.

As an aside, I know one should normally store wine on it's side to ensure the cork stays moist. But with a screw cap wine which one is intending to keep for a while, can they be stored upright?

The conventional wisdom is still evolving, but most wine geeks seem to agree that storage on the side is not necessary for screwcapped wines. It's even arguable that standing up is better, protecting against the small possibility of a leaker. Still, since existing wine racks are horizontal, if you have the space there's little reason not to lay them down, but keep an eye out for (unlikely) drips, and if you find one, assume that bottle is not for keeping.

Ch Musar 2001 "Hochar" (This seems to be a Lebanese imitation of Bordeaux - and I've had some good Lebanese whites in the past. Drink now, I would have thought)

Matt, it sounds like you had an excellent Christmas! I won't comment specifically on the others, though at a glance it appears your instincts are sound. The Hochar, though, is quite an interesting exception: Although made in Lebanon (by a producer of French heritage), it's an excellent and extremely ageworthy wine. Subject to dramatic vintage variation - it can be insanely funky, in a good way - both red and white Musar can last for many years, even decades. Red Musars of the '90s and even the '80s are drinking well now, and like Bordeaux of the older style, it really should not be drunk until it matures.

Otto in Finland is a great advocate of Musar, and I'm sure he'll be along soon with more specific advice.

Robin,
Just to be clear: are you talking about Ch. Musar, or Hochar, their second wine? It is this latter that Dave has, and my experience with it is that it doesn't need much aging (though probably could age well for 5 years or so).

Mark Lipton

[Robin Garr]

Just to be clear: are you talking about Ch. Musar, or Hochar, their second wine? It is this latter that Dave has, and my experience with it is that it doesn't need much aging (though probably could age well for 5 years or so).

Oops! You are exactly right, and I am exactly wrong, Mark. I read right past "Hochar" in my excitement at seeing "Musar."

Sorry, Matt. Mark is right. Listen to Mark. (I do, by the way, have new glasses coming next week with a new prescription. Really! )

FWIW Ch Musar do not regard Hochar Père et Fils as their second wine - that honour goes to their Cuvée Reservée.

I tried Hochar Père et Fils 2001 back in 2006. I liked it a lot, but put it down as a "drink now" wine:
A Pale inky ruby
N Intense, cheesy, floral, red fruit. High toned. Maturish, soft strawberry.
P Intense sweet fruit. Medium acid. Gentle tannins. Fruity and spicy.

Sorry, can't help with the other wines, but should be fine to store screw-capped wines at any angle.

The Hochar isn't usually a terribly interesting wine IMO, but the 2001 was something exceptional - not Musar, but certainly much more interesting than it has been before. Like Mark and Steve say, I don't think it will keep for terribly long. And since it is so good now, why wait?

-O

Just to be absolutely 100% sure.... If it says 'Hochar pere et fils' then it's the younger drinking wine (which is good young but not so much so that 3-4 years would see it's demise). The main Musar wine has 'Gaston Hochar' on the front.

If you like the Hocar Pere et Fils, then definitely give the main Musar a go. It's often great value here, especially as the normally pathetic supermarkets have started stocking it - when they do promotions it can get as low as £10 a bottle, in which case it's worth buying a number of bottles.

regards

Ian

Hi,

Thanks for all the advice. I'd started to get quite excited by Robin's comments, but at least my "third wine" from ch Musar is of a good vintage.

It certainly piqued my curiosity about the first wine though, and as Ian suggested the 2000 vintage is available in a local supermarket at a very reasonable price. I may well pick up a couple of bottles and try storing them for a few years.

Cheers,
Matt

Hi,

Thanks for all the advice. I'd started to get quite excited by Robin's comments, but at least my "third wine" from ch Musar is of a good vintage.
Cheers,
Matt

It's not the 3rd wine either

Actually I'm not quite sure what they're on about at Ch. Musar, but apparently Hochar Pere et Fils is a 'different wine' with the Cuvee Reserve (cheaper that the 1st wine) being viewed by them as the 2nd wine to Musar and the Pere et Fils being a different sort of wine, out on its own. To be frank it just sounded like they didn't want the the new wine (the Cuvee reserve) to be tarred with being a 3rd wine and came out with this rubbish to avoid the comment. I see no justification for their position.

If you buy some of the Musar, note the opinions around that suggest giving it a decent decant. Otto's your man for specifics!

regards

Ian