Community Tasting Note
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Paul852 Likes this wine: 92 points
September 19, 2019 - Sadly (compared to Goldstone's earlier note) I was only at one of Marc Hochar's lesser wine dinners last week (we had the 2004 and the 2012), but elsewhere with friends on Saturday at ChomChomYomYom I offered a 1998. I had stood it upright for a few days in the wine fridge then double decanted about 3 hours prior to drinking (removing over 1cm of sludge).
The colour was immediately quite distinctive - much more brick red than the ruby of younger Musars. The nose was classic Musar with a touch of barnyard. On the palate there was a really nice balance of fruit with some nice bite and just a very light touch of tannin. The finish was moderately long and encouraged the next sip. It was universally regarded as the red wine of the evening. (Competition, by coincidence, including a Musar 2002 which was much more primary and straightforward.)
For me, unlike Goldstone, on the basis of this (my first bottle of 98) I see it as being in a good place right now.1 person found this helpful 5,235 views
2 Comments
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Goldstone commented:
9/22/19, 10:51 AM - Paul, a super note. I'd encourage you to explore with longer decants when possible. The Hochar family normally use a 6-hour decant when drinking their wines at home....and they normally think the wine isn't ready to really enjoy before 15 years. The crazy thing is that even 20-year vintages are easily available from FICOFI in Hong Kong at less than HKD500 per bottle. So we can enjoy the wines the way the family do :)
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Paul852 commented:
9/23/19, 1:42 AM - Thanks! We are indeed very fortunate in the availability and pricing of Musar here (I understood from Marc that HK is their second biggest market after the UK). At HK$288 for the 1998 I shall be getting a few more in. I find it extraordinary that the auction price now showing here is over HK$900!
Some vintages do seem to run out though - 2006 seems already gone in 750ml according to my account manager at FICO.