As many of you know, this winery is situated in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. The vines are grown to the east of the mountain range that run from north to south along the Mediterranean coast , at an altitude of 1000 meters above sea level, so in spite of the southern latitude, the climate is not too warm. The white grapes are grown even higher up, at around 1300 m altitude. The reds are made from about a third each of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Carignan and the white from about 2/3 Obaideh and 1/3 Merwah. It is quite commonly accepted among the followers of Musar here that these wines need to be opened well in advance, in particular the whites. I asked Gaston Hochar about his view on this and agreed that they needed to be opened some time ahead, but, except for some vintages in a tough or closed stage, an hour or two would normally be sufficient, also for the whites. The wines at this tasting were opened about two hours before we tasted them, only the reds were actually decanted.
Before the notes of the wines that were tasted in the order I describe them, I have to give a caveat that I was (and still am...
) suffering from the aftermaths of a cold that was limiting my sniffing ability a bit.Chateau Musar red 2001 Nice, clean, red fruit. A little barnyard, but not really shitty. A slight whiff of volatility/ethyl acetate, but not more than to render a freshness to the nose.
Fresh and fruity attack. Rathe rgood acidity. Getting a bit dusty after a while in the mouth. Warm and rather full with quite a bit of dusty tannins that dominate the aftertaste. Good wine with plenty of character. Will be released on the market at the London Wine Fair next month.
Chateau Musar red 2000 Warm, thick nose, a bit dull but with nice, deep fruit and a slightly sweet-sour smell, and a slight touch of volatility.
Sweetish attack with ripe, red fruit. A touch of tasty oakiness. Good acidity. Full bodied and warm. Substantial, rather dry tannins with some structure. Rather long, fiery, slightly dusty aftertaste. Quite good.
Chateau Musar red 1999 A bit developed slightly unfresh but sweet fruit, a bit like strawberries with balsamico.
Fresh and a bit hard attack. Growing, broadening taste. OK Acidity and fruit. Marked fingrained tannins. Long, fiery, slightly dryish aftertaste. Maybe closing up a little. Of these three vintages, I liked the 2000 best.
Chateau Musar red 1993 Sweet and sour fruitiness and quite a bit of ethyl acetate in this one. In fact the only one that actually had such levels of volatility that I was disturbed by it. Also some cigarette smoke and tobacco.
Distinctly sweet attack. Nice fruitiness and a fresh acidity. Rather aromatic. some dryish tannins. Fiery rather hard and dry aftertaste. Not too good.
Chateau Musar red 1980 Finetuned nose with a bit of meet and hay. Rather unclean.
Fresh attack and quite a lot of the dustiness that seems to be a common element in most of these wines, reminding me of some old-style Châteauneuf-de-Pape wines. A good acidity, though, hiding some of the dustiness. Quite dominant, dry tannins. Rather long, fiery and dry aftertaste. A bit closed and unyielding, but the favourite of some of the tasters.
Chateau Musar red 1977 Mature and developed. Very shitty in a nice, almost Rhône-like way. Some sweet-sour fruitiness.
Fresh, but dry attack. Dryish, but with a nice, chewable mouthfeel. Broad and fiery taste with a decent acidity. Dry tannins and a little of the Musar dust again. Long, dry, earthy and definitely dusty aftertaste. Some tasters were definitely disturbed by a note the called wet concrete, but I, a bit to my surprise, really liked the shiftiness of this wine.
Chateau Musar white 2000 Burned, rather unpleasant nose reminding me of the smell of a matchbox, right after a match has been lit on it. Closed and unyielding. No development noted in the glass during the more than one hour of the tasting.
Burned taste with some grapiness and a little sweetness. OK acidity. Growing peppery and fiery taste. Totally lacking charm.
Chateau Musar white 1993 Warm, rather full almost lush nose with some fruitiness of ripe pears and honey and almonds.
Nice, fruity attack. Dryish, dusty taste. A bit of the matchbox appearing here again. Not too much acidity. Fiery dry aftertaste. Clearly much more likable than the 2000 but still not really my kind of wine. Perhaps I could detect a slight increase of the fruit in the glass during the tasting. I swirled it heavily several times to try to increase the contact with air.
Well, to conclude, I really tried not to be biased, since I rarely have found the Musar wines to to my liking, and must say that I was much more positive to many of them than expected. Who knows, my taste might even become "acquired" enough that I actually might start to like them one day...
Cheers, Anders
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