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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.4 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 79 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Tony Molester on 5/21/2023 flawed bottle: From auction. Ullage was low shoulder. Cork was barely in place. Lots of signs of seepage. Tasted twice over 3h. The wine was spoiled.
14%abv (902 views) | | | Tasted by manonthemoon on 12/31/2020 & rated 92 points: Had for NYE.
N Cherry, leather, balsamic, funk, spice
P Cherry, leather, funk, earth, iron, hints of balsamic
F above average in length, decent structure.
Showed well after extended airing, nose was really nice, was nervous about the cork which crumbled. (3024 views) | | | Tasted by Boone's Farm on 10/24/2020 & rated 93 points: Beautiful aromatics. Completely integrated. Lite on the palate. Elegant red fruit and mineral flavors with hints of asian spices. Very nice wine. (2984 views) | | | Tasted by Collector1855 on 7/1/2020 & rated 93 points: Tasted a few Musar side by side against some Pauillacs. WE loved the Musars for their aromatic complexity, many of them did not have too much funk (aka Brett) as I observed in bottles before but a nice nose of musk, underbrush, sweet spices and more red than dark berries. There is a good portion of Carrignan and Cinsault next to CabSav in these wines. This makes the wine a bit lighter than a Bordeaux and also higher pitched in the aromatics. So after having tasted the 1989 (93, the lightest of all of them), 1999/2004 (94, aromatic, good mid mouth presence), 2001 (NR, light cork) we concluded that these wines are better to be compared against a South of France Blend than a Bordeaux blend. (4061 views) | | | Tasted by sharonandroland on 11/22/2019 flawed bottle: Maderised and oxidised - cork fell in (3757 views) | | | Tasted by ZMAng on 11/5/2019 & rated 93 points: Brownish ruby. Nose: Animal, meaty, iron (these typical Musar notes seem milder, more balanced here compared to younger vintages) mixed with sweet black fruit and light herbal notes. Similar notes on the palate, round, tart, good structure. Clearer mushroom notes with time to breathe but not much further development. 92-94. (3187 views) | | | Tasted by Herb K on 7/13/2019: Spectacular! Fresh fruit and smooth tannins. Blueberries. (1958 views) | | | Tasted by Milos on 6/29/2019 & rated 90 points: Colour shows full maturity. Very much a Musar nose with funky wild nose of leather, red fruit and strong barnyard note. The palate shows a lots of complexity with roasted meat and red fruit dominating. Slightly disjointed moderate finish. This bottle was likely past its prime. (1764 views) | | | Tasted by Kirk Grant on 9/29/2018: This bottle was a huge disappointment, imported by Negotiants USA Inc in Sonoma, CA. It's missing the magic of any of the bottles that I've had in the past that Broadbent imported, it honestly reminded me of a bad blend of California Cabernet, Carignan, and Cinsault. Over-oaked, and stewed red fruits...I'm never buying another bottle of Musar imported by this company again. I would recommend anyone that likes Musar AVOID wines imported by this company. (2643 views) | | | Tasted by AsiaTraveller88 on 6/17/2018 & rated 94 points: From a half bottle. Excellent pale colour. Long cork. Fresh nose of dark fruit and spices, typical of Musar, Bordeaux like but with something extra and typical. Long, smooth, harmonious to drink. Clearly old but perfectly presented. Dark fruit, complexity and a hint of olives. Reminds me that I have often quoted Musar as my favorite wine. Excellent. (2534 views) | | | Tasted by cct on 2/8/2018 & rated 93 points: Double decanted for sediment and drunk over two nights
There is wildness to the nose. Meat and blood, leather, dark berry fruits, rusty nails, iodine, and asphalt. Savory and herbal as much as fruit driven. Full bodied, rich and layered. Wild, dark, more rusty nails, asphalt, roasted rare meat, with some white pepper that adds to the fruit and earthy main themes. A complicated, very long, world class wine. It gained in fruit and depth overnight. Early peak. 93 (3097 views) | | | Tasted by Bordeauxman on 11/22/2017 & rated 91 points: Light almost Burgundy color. Mature floral nose. Red fruit with shuttle forest floor nose. With an hour of air the taste is crisp crushed red fruit and seared meat. Excellent wine and time to drink. I would not recommend another 10 years in the cellar but this bottle was from Acker Auction. (3035 views) | | | Tasted by AV2012 on 1/20/2017 & rated 87 points: From magnum. A dividing wine. Some loved it, but I found a troubling amount of VA in it - it had some tart and edgy notes due to this. Otherwise it was nice and typical. (4444 views) | | | Tasted by RajivAyyangar on 12/15/2016 flawed bottle: Musar Dinner (Tim's, SF): Purchased at Hedonism-London last week. Double-decanted at 10:45 am
Base neck fill, cork is soaked through with some crud on the exposed end.
Right out of the bottle, thin and volatile, bretty and watery with just a hint of intense tertiary black fruit.
Might be slightly corked.
At dinner: Definitely corked (4538 views) | | | Tasted by brooklynguy on 5/20/2016: A really good wine that perhaps suffered next to illustrious company. Complex and exotic aromas of incense, hard spices, and also leather and earthy smells that initially were clean and pure but after 15 minutes or so began to show a volatility that was distracting. Still, balanced and lovely wine. but next to 66 Haut Brion and 58 Cappellano, not easy. (5277 views) | | | Tasted by Lype on 2/24/2016 & rated 91 points: Aged mature tones have tamed volatility typical of younger vintages, this vintage is attractively light and refined, pinot-type of elegance, good structure, drinking very well now. (946 views) | | | Tasted by forceberry on 2/24/2016 & rated 99 points: Translucent, medium-deep cherry red color with a developed mahogany hue. Utterly ravishing, complex, even Burgundian nose; I really don't favor those sexist descriptors, but many people attending the tasting described the nose as "feminine". Delicate, layered aromas of violets, dark cherry, savory cedar wood, some sweet acetone VA, a little leather and a hint of truffles and sous-bois. As delicate and exquisite in the mouth as the nose suggests with complex, nuanced flavors of sweet dark cherry, sunny plummy fruit, dates, freshly picked figs, some complex Moroccan spice, notes of sour cherry, a little dusty earth, a hint of raisins and a touch of balsamic VA. Medium body, good bright acidity and some slight grip from resolved, powdery tannins. Very long, complex and layered finish with intermingling nuances of sweet plummy fruit, sour cherry, leather, peppery spice, some cedar and a hint of sticky, raisiny sweetness.
As perfect as a Musar can be, and as I consider red Musars as the epitome of red wines, the wine is rated accordingly. This is a wonderful example of a good vintage Musar at its peak: incredible depth, complexity and concentration of flavor without any heaviness, dullness and tiredness of an old wine. Despite its impressive habitus, the wine still manages to come across as surprisingly delicate and elegant. Truly a remarkable and unique wine of exceeding finesse. I can't see the wine evolving much anymore, but it is still in surprisingly good condition and will probably hold for many years, if not for decades. (4874 views) | | | Tasted by Kirk Grant on 11/8/2015: Celebrating Doug's Birthday...; 11/8/2015-11/9/2015: Honestly...this tastes off. I'm not sure I can pin-point what's wrong...but this does not taste like my past experiences with this wine...muted nose, muted fruits, not bad...but not impressive. (5349 views) | | | Tasted by kenv on 11/5/2015 & rated 93 points: WCC Blind Tasting of Chateau Musar and Chateau Montrose (Salty's Pub & Bistro, Clifton Park, NY): [Double decanted for two hours the previous evening.] Mulch and red fruit nose. Complex, long, sweet, interesting. (4381 views) | | | Tasted by TheMajor on 8/20/2015 & rated 94 points: Was delighted to find this on the wine list yesterday evening. Cork was in excellent condition - rare for an older Musar. Clear vibrant healthy lightish red colour. It started off with waves of raspberry, orange peel and balsamic cherry, with plenty of acidity and real freshness, but definitely and unashamably Musar. Over the next two hours it grew in stature adding cloves and eastern spices and some reassuring farmyard funk. Fantastic wine, always unique, and (if a good bottle) always a showstopper. I hope my collection of 1999 tastes like this in 10 years time! (3805 views) | | | Tasted by Rezy13 on 8/18/2015 & rated 92 points: Tuesday Night Double Blind $60+ (Bin 75): Aged, sediment, rusty rim with brick at the core, see through; aged, soy, fennel, caraway, leather, red fruit, mineral; spices, hard red fruit, nice richness, brick dust, fuller, sappy, mineral, nice structure; aged on the nose but palate still pretty fresh; thought this was an aged Burgundian styled CdP as it seemed more Burgundian but looking back the strong autumnal notes that I failed to take note of and the super sappy mid palate should have led me to Musar. (3780 views) | | | Tasted by Kirk Grant on 1/25/2015: 19 Vintages of Musar Rouge; 1/25/2015-1/26/2015 (Clark Point House in Southwest Harbor, Maine): Color: Deep ruby core minimal bricking and eventually a clear meniscus.
Smell: Gorgonzola cheese it the initial & dominant scent followed by cement floor, leather, smoked/charred meats, white tea, and tobacco.
Taste: blackberries, blueberries, mushrooms, black cherry, and clove.
Overall: In the mouth this is all power, med+ body, med+ acidity, med+ tannin. There is an immense density that calls to mind the vision of the iron fist in a velvet glove. This is an outstanding Musar...yet it suffers when side by side with the '88. In honor of Bart Broadbent who made tasting the '84 Rouge possible I'll use the five * system. (***/*) (4256 views) | | | Tasted by tendring on 1/22/2015 & rated 91 points: Wine Education Service - Château Musar (LSE): Brown with a bricky rim, translucent.
A mature nose, gamey with sweet ripe fruit (figs).
Fruity with fantastic acidity, nicely integrated, a delicious old wine. (2957 views) | | | Tasted by Rezy13 on 1/1/2015 & rated 93 points: 2015 New Year's Day Tasting- Double Blind $80+ (Marietta, GA): Dull crimson, aged, no sediment (in my glass at least); caraway, celery seed, leather, sour red fruit, black tea, nutty, brown baking spice, thinner due to age, still good life; intense fruit, medicinal cherry, slight orange peel, nutty, autumnal, great mouthfeel, Rhone-ish with a hint of Bordeaux character; very correct, should have gone to Musar right away; similar aging pattern as Quintarelli too- a long plateau where the wine just doesn't decline, great stuff! (3187 views) | | | Tasted by popopdrops on 7/31/2014 & rated 95 points: Kjellerfunn! Fantastisk vin, østlige aromaer, mandler, mørk sjokolade, søte tanniner, pen syre. Delikat, faktisk. (3455 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Chateau Musar Producer website
Source: VinConnect (VinConnect.com)
Housed in an 18th century castle in Ghazir, about 25 km north of Beirut, Chateau Musar was founded in 1930 by Gaston Hochar, inspired by Lebanon’s 6,000-year winemaking tradition and his friendship with Ronald Barton of Chateau Leoville-Barton in Saint Julien. The estate’s name in Arabic is ‘M’zar,’ meaning “place of extraordinary beauty/shrine to be visited,” an ideal name for this fascinating estate.
The vines for the estate’s unique wines are located in the famed Bekaa Valley, an area celebrated for its viticulture since Biblical times. At the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, Lebanon’s favorable geographical and climatic conditions have always held abundant promise for the cultivation of grapes. The Bekaa Valley is positioned particularly well, nestled between the ‘Lebanon’ and ‘Anti-Lebanon’ mountain ranges at 34° N of the equator.
The vineyards of Musar are planted at altitudes ranging from 1,000 – 1,500 meters (3,280 – 4,921 ft) above sea level. The vines benefit from cool nights and seasonal temperatures (snow in winter and hot summers), resulting in long ripening periods. The vineyard soils are predominantly calcareous/limestone with gravel and stone, resulting in wines of distinctive character and blends of appealing complexity.
The vineyards’ remote location coupled with the Hochar family’s respect for the environment has resulted in ‘organic’ vineyards by default since the 1950s, even long before the term was coined. The estate obtained organic certification for its vineyards in 2005, the first producer in Lebanon to do so. All the grapes are hand-harvested by local Bedouins in the cool of the morning in order to preserve freshness, the harvest usually taking place between August and October.
The Chateau Musar winery is located in Ghazir about two and a half hour’s drive from the Bekaa Valley. The cellars are dug into the mountainside providing perfect condition for long term wine storage. The wines of Chateau Musar are produced with a ‘non-interventionist’ wine making philosophy; fermentation starts naturally with ambient yeasts, the bare minimum of sulfur is used and the Chateau Musar wines are neither fined nor filtered. Individual varieties from different vineyards are kept separately up to two years, and constantly tasted to understand their unique personalities and characteristics. The final blending process is an intrinsic part of the winemaking art at Chateau Musar — winemaking by instinct.
The estate produces three lines: the flagship range includes Chateau Musar Red, Chateau Musar White and Chateau Musar Rosé; Hochar Père et Fils Red – a more accessible red, produced from a single vineyard site in the Bekaa Valley and ready to drink upon release at year five (as opposed to Chateau Musar Red which the family recommends to drink starting from year 15); and Musar Jeune — unoaked vibrant wines intended for immediate drinking. The Chateau Musar Red and White wines undergo lengthy bottle ageing in the estate cellars and are released only after seven years.
Chateau Musar first achieved international recognition during the Bristol Wine Fair in England in 1979, where the wine press and prominent critics including Michael Broadbent declared it “the discovery of the fair”. In 1984, Decanter wine magazine named Serge Hochar their first ever “Man of the Year” for his extraordinary achievements, determination and dedication to producing outstanding wines during the difficult years of the Lebanese civil war.
Today, Chateau Musar wines are known worldwide for their finesse, elegance and extraordinary ability to age, and the estate still offers mesmerizing wines dating back to the 1950’s.
Speaking about the wines of Chateau Musar, Serge Hochar said “the harmony of nature is better than anything we could ever create. I believe it should be a priority to seek to drink what is ‘true’ rather than what is ‘good’ “. When speaking about quality in wine he added “I once produced a wine that was technically perfect but it lacked the charms of imperfection”.
With its captivating history and the incredible passion and dedication of the Hochar family, Chateau Musar has achieved a sort of cult-like status and is one of the most written-about and discussed wines in the world today.Chateau MusarA guide to the style
In youth, Chateau Musar Reds are dense and richly-textured, with intense ‘baked fruit’ characters: plums, damsons, cranberries, cherries, figs and dates. Bordeaux grape Cabernet Sauvignon lends black fruit flavours; Rhône grapes Cinsault and Carignan contribute fragrance (violets; pepper) and supple spiciness. Either set of qualities might dominate a particular vintage, but the style is always emphatically Lebanese: enticingly aromatic, with persistent fruit flavours. Over decades the wines acquire tawny hues and mellow notes. We still offer wines from the 1950s: mesmerising artefacts of vintage.
Grapes and vines
Seven years in the making, Chateau Musar Red is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Cinsault from vineyards near the Bekaa Valley villages of Ammiq, Aana and Kefraya on gravelly soils over limestone. Planted from the 1930s onwards, yields are low from these mature bushvines (average age: 40 years): 35hl per hectare.
Winemaking
The varietal components in Chateau Musar Red undergo lengthy fermentations in cement-lined vats at temperatures below 30°C. Racked from their yeast ‘lees’ 6 months after the harvest they are transferred into French barrels (oak from the forest of Nevers, one-third new each vintage) for one year.
Blending
The varietal components are brought together two years after the harvest; the resulting blend is then placed back in cement-lined tanks before being bottled 12 months later. Each wine is blended to reflect the strengths of the vintage: in hotter years, Cabernet Sauvignon might dominate (the thick-skinned grapes fare better in the heat); cooler conditions can favour the Cinsault grape. After 4 years’ bottle maturation in the deep stone cellars of Chateau Musar, the finished wines are released a full seven years after the harvest.
Decanting and serving
Bottled unfined and unfiltered, Chateau Musar Reds are suitable for vegans (fining agents often contain animal proteins); they’re also richly-textured and likely to ‘throw a crust’. This is a common feature of most fine wines and is especially true of Musar Red vintages over a decade old. Ideally, bottles should be stood up the night before opening to settle any sediment. After careful decanting (and discarding of sediment, usually in the last centimetre of the bottle) the wine should be allowed to breathe for several hours and served at 18°C with roasts, grills (especially lamb), casseroles, game, and mature cheeses.
Storage
To keep the wines showing at their best, bottles must be cellared in darkness, lying on their sides and not subjected to unnecessary movement or fluctuations in temperature.Red Blend. |
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