2002 Chateau Musar
Community Tasting Note
forceberry wrote:
Friday, October 25, 2019 - In 2002 long, cold and rainy weather pushed the ends of the winter and the spring back, all the way into late June, followed by a mild July and then, suddenly, a hot August. The ripening process was delayed accordingly, the harvest starting two weeks behind the normal schedule, starting on 15th of September. The maturity of grapes was extremely varied from vineyard to vineyard, so instead of picking the varieties one by one, the harvest had to be done vineyard by vineyard, according to the maturity. This year the fermentation and maceration times were much longer than normal. After 6 months of aging in concrete vats, the wines were racked into oak barrels for one year. After the oak aging the wines were blended together and matured for a further year in oak casks before bottling. 14% alcohol. Decanted for a few hours before tasting the wine.
Quite translucent cherry red color with developed, pale maroon overtones. The nose feels sweet and quite lifted with aromas of perfumed floral tones, some raspberry marmalade, a little bit of balsamic VA, light juicy blackberry tones, a sweet hint of black cherries and a touch of nail polish VA. The wine is ripe, full-bodied and slightly sweet-toned on the palate with very textural and enjoyably firm overall feel. Flavors of sweet dark berries, cherry marmalade, some sour cherry bitterness, a little bit of bretty barnyard funk, light boysenberry tones, developed pruney hints and a touch of lifted volatile character. The wine is quite high in acidity with rather soft, ripe and mellow tannins. The finish is round, mellow and slightly sweet-toned with rich, medium-long flavors of wizened black cherries, some pruney dark fruits, a little bit of raspberry marmalade, light bretty notes of leather and barnyard, a hint of sour cherry bitterness and a touch of earth.
A pleasant, soft and somewhat mellow yet not flabby Musar where the moderately high acidity plays vital role in keeping the wine bright and interesting. Overall, in the tasting of Musar vintages 2012-1997, this wine came across as a bit underwhelming, but at the same time pleasantly delicate as well. There's quite a bit of ripeness and Musar-y funk, but the overall feel lacks the intensity of the best wines. This is an attractive effort for what it is, and most likely it will keep easily for at least another decade, but in all likelihood this will never equal the greatest vintages of Musar nor is this going to be as long-lived as them. A solid effort to be enjoyed right now.
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