2013 Chateau Musar Blanc

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 83 points

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  1/21/2023 - JulesMaster_1982 Does not like this wine: 80 Points

  That was one of the weirdest wines I ever had, tasted like an industrial bleacher blendes with sunscreen. It had perfect provenance and did not taste like a normal flaw, so can only assume that this is it, and how the vintage is supposed to taste. I have had other Musar Blanc vintages which reminded me quite nicely of white Riojas, but this one is completely off the charts.

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  9/17/2022 - forceberry wrote: 82 Points

  Made with Obaideh (60%) and Merwah (40%) grapes sourced from ungrafted, low-yielding vineyards that are 50 to 90 years old, located at the altitude of 1,200 meters (4,000 feet) above sea level. The vintage 2013 in Beqaa began quite wet and snowy, followed by a cool April, resulting in an exceptionally verdant May. The summer was quite normal until a spell of exceptional heat in August, boosting the sugar levels in the grapes. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts, partly in oak and partly in stainless steel, and aged for 9 months in a combination of new French 225-liter barriques (25%) and stainless steel tanks. 11,5% alcohol. Tasted in a Musar Blanc 2014-1998 vertical.
  
  Medium-deep lime-green color. The nose here is - well - quite striking. The first thing I've written down is honestly "WTF! :D" - I pick up youthful, very odd and quite over-the-top aromas of gooey gummi bear candies and sneaker insoles, woolly lanolin, some rubbery tones, a little bit of perfumed floral character, light sweet notes of pear jam, a hint of tangerine juice and a touch of latex. The nose seems quite sweet, even candied, and intermingling with odd, at times somewhat rubbery notes. The wine feels moderately full-bodied and quite mellow on the palate with youthful and somewhat sweet-toned flavors of tutti frutti candies and rubbery notes of unused sneakers, some ripe citrus and apricot nuances, a little bit of wool that seems to gain prominence as the wine breathes and opens up, light latex tones, a sweet hints of apple jam and candied gummi bear character and a touch of stony minerality. The medium-to-moderately high acidity keeps the wine in balance, but doesn't really make it feel structured or particularly refreshing. The finish is long and juicy with somewhat odd flavors of ripe golden apples and tutti frutti candies, some rubbery notes, a little bit of zesty citrus fruit, light chalky mineral tones, a hint of wet rocks and a touch of woolly lanolin.
  
  This was by far the weirdest white Musar I've ever tasted and completely unlike any other vintage we had in our vertical. Although there was quite a bit of variation between the wine, you could've still picked the other vintages as white Musar in a blind tasting setting. This vintage, however, was so atypical for a white Musar that never in my life I would've guessed that this was Musar! The wine didn't feel rubbery in a reductive kind of way - more like in a weird, somewhat industrial feel, further accentuated by those sweet and rather dominant notes of soft gummi bear candies and tutti frutti. Although the wine was wonderfully low in alcohol, the overall feel didn't come across as particularly light or delicate. Furthermore, the relatively modest acidity made the wine lack in zip, freshness and flavor intensity. I have no idea if this bottle was representative of the vintage, but the overall style was so atypical, that if the other bottles are going to be like this, I have no idea if this wine is going to get any better with further aging. Although this was a very young bottle, I don't feel Musar Blanc opened "too early" should taste like this - after all the surrounding vintages 2012 and 2014 that were opened at the same time performed much better and were noticeably more true to the style!

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  5/8/2022 - thesternowl wrote: 92 Points

  My first experience with the 2013 Musar Blanc. I opened this bottle about an hour prior to service and enjoyed over the next three hours. Served at cellar temperature. The wine pours a bright golden color with medium, almost medium+ viscosity. The nose is…fascinating. Notes of lemon, herbs, marigolds, honey, marmalade, cloves, bandaid, and something that reminded me of an old rail yard. No cap. On the palate, lemon curd, slightly underripe star fruit, green herbs, a bitterness that reminds of walnut skin…the wine is really wooly, with a long smokey and rather saline finish. Medium+ acid that builds with air. This is about as Musar as it gets. Rustic, wild and irresistible all the same. I’m sure this bottle isn’t without flaw but that’s sort of what you get with Musar. Anyway, we had no trouble finishing off the bottle. It should be noted that the wine improved with air. I’ll hold my remaining bottle until at least 2028.

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