2002 Chateau Musar
Community Tasting Note
pwarms wrote:
Monday, September 12, 2011 - Winery Tasting Note:
2002 was a year full of pleasant surprises which look likely to continue……
After four successive years of drought, we had a long, rainy and cold winter which lasted until June. This was followed by a mild July and hot August. The vines took longer to reach maturity than average and the harvest started almost two weeks later than in previous years. The maturity level varied from vineyard to vineyard forcing us to be selective in our harvesting – the grapes were all hand picked in the early mornings.
The grapes began arriving at the winery on the 15th September and we had to lower the average fermentation temperature to give the yeast the ability to finish transforming the sugar into alcohol.
Fermentation in concrete vats went perfectly well but slowly with the temperature kept below 31 degrees and this very long fermentation and maceration were totally unexpected. The wine was racked six months after the harvest and then put into French nevers oak barrels for one year. The three varietals of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Carignan which up until then had been kept separately, were blended in the following summer of 2004 and bottled in July and August 2005.
The grapes of this year were characterised by high levels of sugar, acidity and tannins and the resulting wines are much bigger, riper and fuller than expected.
An exceptional year, as normally in Lebanon, high sugar content means less acidity but in 2002 everything was there!
A deep crimson – even blood red colour with an intense and complex nose of spicy red fruits, cedar with deeper plum notes. Generous red and black fruits follow through to the palate combined with Christmas cake spices, figs, dates and stewed plums. Good acidity, silky tannins with a rich fruited palate end with a long promising finish.
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