Musar Maniacs part II
Pera SF
Tasted Friday, April 22, 2016 by RajivAyyangar with 346 views
Introduction
For the previous Musar Maniacs tasting - also at Pera - go here: https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=30976&searchId=1B8824A0&UISource=list
Leon + 1, Gence, Alder, Tim, and a few others I'm forgetting (I'm transcribing the notes 6 months later).
Around 10: '95
Around 9.5: '90
Between 9-9.5: '88, '87, '82, '98 blanc
Flawed: '72, '93 blanc
The '88 and '87 were very similar. Less singing than the 95 but with some serious stuffing. Maybe they need more time for tertiary character to solidify and emerge?
1990 Chateau Musar 95 Points
Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
Pale ruby-garnet. Quite turbid in the glass.
Complex nose of sweet tertiary fruit - faded and illuminated cherry. Savory dog fur (Brett), a slight balsamic tingle. Loads of dried roses, cranberry, dried orange, sandalwood and yam skin. Over time hints of anise emerged.
The nose is high-toned.
Burgundian on the palate with aggressive acidity and a tart finish [Note: The grapes were picked early on account of war.]. It lacks the intensity and darkness of tertiary fruit that the '95 has, but clearly has the same type of tertiary fruit.
Score: around 9.5
Read 4 Comments / Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue
1995 Chateau Musar 100 Points
Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
One of the Maine bottles: Top shoulder fill, no seepage, cork soaked almost through save 0.5 cm.
Out of the bottle, it was as usual - thin, Bretty, and figgy, with balsamic prickle.
It grabbed almost everyone at the tasting. The experience was consistent with recent bottles, but what really stood out to me, in context of the other vintages, was the aromatic balance of tertiary fruit, lingering primary fruit, and earthy/savory notes. As always it constantly changed and shifted in the glass.
Faintly burnt nose, with fur, sweet tamari, and tertiary blackcurrant. Slight toast and intense cassis liqueur. Slightly burnt sandalwood, yam skin.
As always, medium bodied, medium alcohol, elevated and persistent acidity. Still has some tannic grip - quite developed and plush at this point. The finish is infinite.
I didn't want to say anything, as it was only the second wine we poured (and my own bottle), but others said it for me. The wine was f-ing amazing.
Score: 10
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1988 Chateau Musar 93 Points
Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
Medium-minus ruby-garnet in the glass, cloudy.
Savory nose of stewed tertiary cassis, roasted carrot in browned butter. Carrot biryani - it reminds me of an older Musar Blanc in some ways.
Slightly spiced, with hints of metal, sandalwood, and sawdust (the oak is showing a bit - not in a bad way). Slight balsamic prickle.
Grippy medium plus tannins, tissue paper and silk.
It's structured like the '87, but seems less dense and integrated on both the mid-palate and finish.
9-9.5
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1987 Chateau Musar 93 Points
Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
Medium minus ruby-garnet.
Savory nose of dark tertiary cassis, slight anise. Hints of honey, carob.
Aggressive palate, showing cab character and structure - some tannic grip, though rounded.
Stewed blackberry. Hints of firecracker smoke, sandalwood sawdust (oak).
There's impressive density to the midpalate, and a long finish. Darker and earthier than the 95, though not as open or singing.
9-9.5
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1972 Chateau Musar Flawed
Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
Bottle condition: Sunken cork ~0.5cm. Upper-mid-shoulder fill. Cork was soaked through and came out in pieces.
Out of the bottle: Smells bit cork-like (not necessarily TCA, but actually like cork). Dried-out hard-cheese rind, and significant acetaldehyde. Not sure if this is corked. I don't think so. Definitely not as good as the other bottle out of the gate - the other was completely open and ready to go.
At the tasting: Clearly corked. Many tears.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1982 Chateau Musar 93 Points
Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
LM's magnum from the UK.
On the nose, smells burnt - reductive.
On the palate, powerful and muscular. Still tannic (medium-plus). There's an impression of dense, dark fruit, but it's not very expressive - closed down?
There's a slight hint of dark, complex tobacco and fruit, along with a suggestion of huitlacoche.
Good, but no one who had previously tasted this thought the bottle was showing correctly.
Even so, 9-9.5
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1993 Chateau Musar Blanc
Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
Diminished aromatics - muted and dusty. Weird nose - play dough, almond skin. There's a strange bitter flavor to this - like a tongue depresser (not corked though). High acid.
8.5-9, but maybe this is an off-bottle.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1998 Chateau Musar Blanc 92 Points
Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
Light gold in the glass. Recognizable nose of a white musar just starting to transform. Still a bit primary (green apple - slightly dried, candied lemon), but with some tertiary (slight honey, raw carrot). The secondaries are captivating and transporting - camphor (reminds me of a ping pong ball), wax, incredibly sweet bearclaw, almond croissant.
After about an hour this sang a bit more.
The next morning it was simpler, more apple-y and oxidized, with yellow bruised apples, but there was also more tertiary development - the honey-carrot-browned-butter thing that Musar Blanc develops with age.
All signs point to this being at the early stages of the inflection point.
9-9.5
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue