10 vintages of Chateau Musar

• 1994 Chateau Musar Blanc 91 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  *** Please see the general tasting story notes for more details ***
  Glass: Riedel BDX Sommelier
  White Musar, made of autochthonous variants of Chardonnay and Semillon.
  Clear, medium+, golden amber Sauternes like color. Clean, medium intense, fully developed nose. Nice, but a bit unbalanced and not as complex as the 99 vintage.
  Dry, medium acidity, a bit decomposing. Medium alcohol (13%). Medium body and flavor intensity. A bit leaner than the 99 vintage. Very nice, but not as complex. Drink up, it will not improve but will stay on this level for a few more years.

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• 1999 Chateau Musar Blanc 93 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  *** Please see the general tasting story notes for more details ***
  Glass: Riedel BDX Sommelier
  White Musar, made of autochthonous variants of Chardonnay and Semillon.
  Clear, medium+, golden amber Sauternes like color. Wonderful, clean, medium intense, fully developed nose. Complex, depth. Aromas of flowers, salt herbs, orange zests.
  Dry, medium acidity, that gives this wine a solid structure. Medium alcohol (12,5%), medium+ body and medium+ intense flavors. Orange zests, some bitter notes, herbs, salt. Long finish, lots of pressure and tension. Creamy mouth feel. Wonderful experience. Certainly at its peak, but it will stay there for 5+ years.

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• 1997 Chateau Musar 93 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  *** Please see the general tasting story notes for more details ***
  Glass: Riedel BDX Sommelier
  Popped and poured.
  Clear, medium, ruby-garnet color. Clean, medium intense, developing nose. Wonderful fine and elegant combination of herbs, red fruit and tobacco.
  Dry, medium acidity, medium+ very fine tannin. Medium body, medium+ intense, lovely flavors of tobacco, red fruit, fine oak. 14% abv. Complex, elegant, soft yet powerful and a medium+ long finish. I would say it is start reaching its peak, but might also continue to improve. Has everything to evolve for 10+ years. Great PQR!

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• 2002 Chateau Musar 91 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  *** Please see the general tasting story notes for more details ***
  Glass: Riedel BDX Sommelier
  Decanted for about 4+ hours.
  Clear, deep, youthful glowing ruby color. Clean, medium intense, developing nose. Wonderful combination of herbs, red fruit, lime oil and a bit of brett.
  Dry, medium acidity, medium+ tannin. Interestingly at first a bit fizzy. Not a wine fault and the fine bubbles vanishes after some time in the glass. This wine is still very young and not at all at its peak. Give it at least 2-3+ years before drinking it. It will then stay at this level for 10+ years.

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• 2003 Chateau Musar 92 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  *** Please see the general tasting story notes for more details ***
  Glass: Riedel BDX Sommelier
  Decanted for about 4+ hours.
  Clear, deep, youthful glowing ruby color. Clean, medium intense, developing nose. Wonderful combination of herbs, red fruit, lime oil and a bit of brett.
  Dry, medium acidity, medium+ fine tannin. Lots of extract sweetness. Medium+ intense flavors with lots of spices: cardamom and star anise. Very elegant. This wine is still very young and not at all at its peak. Give it at least 5+ years before drinking it. It will then stay at this level for 20+ years.

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• 1998 Chateau Musar 94 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  *** Please see the general tasting story notes for more details ***
  Glass: Riedel BDX Sommelier
  Popped and poured.
  Clear, medium, ruby-garnet color. Clean, medium intense, developing nose. Wonderful fine and elegant combination of herbs, red fruit and tobacco.
  Dry, medium+/high, perfectly integrated acidity, medium+ very fine tannin. Medium+ body, medium+ intense, wonderful complex flavors of tobacco, red fruit, orange zests, spices, fine oak and tar. 13,5% abv. Complex, elegant, round, animating with a medium+/long finish. This is my WOTN. I would say it is start reaching its peak, but it will continue to improve. Has everything to evolve for 10+ years. Fantastic PQR!

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• 2004 Chateau Musar 92 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  *** Please see the general tasting story notes for more details ***
  Glass: Riedel BDX Sommelier
  Popped and poured.
  Clear, deep, purple color. Clean, medium intense, youthful nose. Some lactic notes, spices, lots of fruit.
  Dry, medium acidity, medium tannin. Medium body, medium intense, complex flavors of spices, red fruit, orange zests and tobacco. Lots of tension, elegance, juicy, cool and youthful. Give it at least 5+ years to reach its peak, but it is already tempting to drink!

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• 1999 Chateau Musar 93 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  *** Please see the general tasting story notes for more details ***
  Glass: Riedel BDX Sommelier
  Popped and poured.
  Clear, medium, ruby-garnet color. Clean, medium intense, developing nose. Very nice!
  Dry, medium acidity, medium+ fine tannin. Lots of extract sweetness. Medium+ body, medium+ intense, wonderful complex flavors of tobacco, red fruit, leather and a bit barn. Reminds me of a good Rhone wine. 14% abv. Elegant, cool, complex, multi layered with a medium+ finish. Close to the 98 vintage. I would say it is start reaching its peak, but it will continue to improve. Has everything to evolve for 10+ years. Fantastic PQR!

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• 2009 Chateau Musar

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  *** Please see the general tasting story notes for more details ***
  Glass: Riedel BDX Sommelier
  Decanted for about 2+ hours.
  Not rated. Far too young. Heavy, unpolished tannin, fruit juice. Needs at least 7+ years to reach its first peak.

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• 2001 Chateau Musar 91 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  *** Please see the general tasting story notes for more details ***
  Glass: Riedel BDX Sommelier
  Decanted for about 4+ hours.
  Clear, medium+ garnet color. Clean, medium intense, developing nose. Dry, medium+ acidity, medium+/high tannin. Needs more time, not at its full peak. Still closed, so not much notes here. At the moment 91pts.

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• 1988 Chateau Musar 93 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  *** Please see the general tasting story notes for more details ***
  Glass: Riedel BDX Sommelier
  Popped and poured. From half bottle.
  A bit hazy, medium garnet color. Not faulty. Clean, medium+ intense, fully developed nose. Wonderful, complex, Burgundian style nose with layers of red fruit, blood, fine leather and herbs. Dense and very elegant.
  Dry, medium+, very nice and fine acidity, medium+ ablated tannin. Lots of extract sweetness. Medium+ body, medium intense, complex flavors of spices, red fruit. Elegant and cool. Long finish. At its peak, but will stay at this level for at least 5-10+years. Very good!

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• 2000 Chateau Musar 93 Points

  Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

  *** Please see the general tasting story notes for more details ***
  Glass: Riedel BDX Sommelier
  Popped and poured.
  Clear, medium+, ruby-garnet color. Clean, medium+ intense, developing nose. Wonderful, complex with layers of red fruit, fine leather, sweetness. Round and compact.
  Dry, medium acidity, medium+ tannin. Lots of extract sweetness. Medium+ body, medium intense, complex flavors of spices, red fruit, leather. Close to the 98 vintage. Lots of tension and intensity, wonderful acidity and length. Drinks perfectly now, but I guess it will benefit from 5+ years to reach full maturity. Fantastic PQR!

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Excellent boeuf bourguignon that layed a very good foundation for the wines :)

My general insights of this vertical tasting:
- All vintages are on a very high level, no blackouts. Musar is always a safe bet!
- Cork quality is not very high. All corks are tight but soft. Use tools like The Durand instead of a classic cork screw
- You should keep your Musar bottles for at least 15years.
- All vintages benefit from decanting and larger glasses like BDX glasses
- None of the vintages were hot, broad or jammy. Tasted blind it would be hard to locate them to the Lebanon.