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Ch. Musar Dinner with Marc Hochar
Crown Wine Cellars, 18 Deep Water Bay Drive, Shouson Hill, Hong Kong
Tasted September 24, 2016 by Goldstone with 477 views
Introduction
A super evening with Marc and 20 members of Crown Wine Cellars - originally 5 wines and an Arack provided by the winery, it turned into 16 wines going back to 1979 provided by us (and with two amazing 'thank you' additions made by Marc). Mostly 2 bottles (or more) of each wine and all had been decanted well in advance under Marc's supervision.
Flight 1 - Aperitif (1 note)
Fitting that its a Rose, because Serge once told me that the Rose was conceived as a Method Champagnois but the French wouldn't let him. So it's really a flat Champagne rather than a tradional Rose.......sadly, the story is way better than the wine, although I have drank good older vintages.
Rosé
2012 Chateau Musar Rosé
82 points
Very light rose-water colour. Nose is quite lifted but indistinct in terms of specific aromas. Palate is light peach but with an over-balance of alcohol. OK for sipping but not one for me.
Flight 2 - Beef Tartare with Truffle Potato Crisps, Egg Yolk, Onion & Capers (4 notes)
Perfectly simple and uncomplicated beef tartare........ the 2000 Blanc went best with this.
White
2000 Chateau Musar Blanc
89 points
Distinctly dark copper-gold colour. Nose is quite muted but showing fairly rich caramel and almond and a slightly oxidative Condrieu-style note. Palate is lovely...harmonious and evolved with medium acidity and lots of almond. Quite resonant. As good as I remember it at a dinner with Marc and his father in early 2013 and has evolved nicely.
White
2006 Chateau Musar Blanc
90 points
My first time with this vintage. Silver-green colour. Nose is surprisingly approachable for a young Musar, quite volatile. Palate is low acidity, definite sweetness, trademark Musar Blanc incense and a wonderful "essence of almond". Heady and very resonant. I really liked this a a lot and surprised myself that I preferred it to the 2000 (although not to the 1975).
Red
2011 Chateau Musar Hochar Père & Fils
85 points
My first time with this vintage. Transparent, purple-red colour that is watery on the meniscus. Nose is very muted and shy. Palate is all fruit with a light touch of oak to lend some structure. Lots of body. No length. I hope it evolves as well as the wonderful 2001 we drank later in the evening but I've always been suspicious that the winemaking style has gone through different iterations across the years.
Red
2012 Chateau Musar Musar Jeune Red
82 points
My first (and probably last) experience iof this cuvee. Opaque deep purple-red colour just lightening on the meniscus. Muted and shy nose. Palate is rather simple thick extracted fruit and not a lot else. I can imagine this being headache inducing. Not my thing.....
Flight 3 - Pan Seared Scallops with Chorizo Relish, Corn Broth, Chantrelles & Endmame/Garlic (3 notes)
The scallops were heavenly..... as were all three of the wines.
Red
1979 Chateau Musar
91 points
Dusky transparent velvet-red colour with no hint of orange. Nose is surprisingly muted.....light, wild strawberries, very Burgundian. Palate is an explosion of resonance and reverberance inside the head from the first sip, a perfumed almost violet mid palate, high acidity. Lightness but power. Very long and reverberant on the finish. I would love to contemplate a whole bottle of this on its own. I remember Serge remarking at another dinner several years ago that this is the vintage he most played it safe and possibly didn't bring out the full expression of the wine. That said, it got several #1 votes tonight.
Red
1980 Chateau Musar
93 points
Dusky, semi-transparent, plush faded red velvet colour. Nose is....gosh...old velvet drapes in a dusty room, cedar woods, damp fresh pine needles, very pure and fresh......absolutely gorgeous and you could sniff this forever. Palate is similarly alive, so fresh, great acidity then some very complex multi-layered variations on plums with dried cherries, dry Indian powdered spices, fresh ripe figs,.....etc. etc... too many elements to identify. Very resonant and reverberant on the finish. Super and still has a long life ahead of it.
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Red
1988 Chateau Musar
92 points
Totally translucent, fresh-looking jewelled ruby colour. Nose is definitely Musar but a lighter slightly more dilute style, but great fruit and a lot going on. Palate is a distinct contrast to the lightness of the nose - full, almost cassis-like mouthcoating thickness with lots of very reduced and concentrated red berry fruit. We drank a pair of bottles with dinner and then opened another pair right at the end of the (long) evening. All seemed even less evolved than when I have drank the '88 in the past, when I have scored it a couple of points higher. But lovely......
Flight 4 - Butter Braised Ribeye with Garlic, thyme, Broccolli, Carrott, Asparagus & Parmesan Crisps (3 notes)
Overcooked......but the wines made up for it.
Red
1991 Chateau Musar
94 points
Very bright-jeweled transparent ruby colour. Nose is beautifully lifted and alluring.....violets, fresh liquorice stick, dried star anise.....gorgeous and quite Barolo-like. Very clean and precise. Palate is lightly candied and quite sweet and perfumed.......evocative of old-fashioned red and white Turkish Delight dusted with icing sugar that came in a sandalwood box from childhood Christmases. Very reverberant and with an almost endless length.....wow! My contribution to the evening......I really think it's up there in the pantheon of the great Musars of all time but is still a teenager.
Red
1995 Chateau Musar
92 points
Semi-transparent bright ruby colour. Nose is an intriguing combination of candied strawberry and compote strawberry. Palate has the same candied element and warm, belly-filling fruit-driven in style. Very powerful on the finish with great heady and thunderous reverberance inside the head. This is half-way through its development and can only get better over the next 5 years. 92+
Red
1998 Chateau Musar
92 points
Transparent and brightly-jeweled ruby in colour. Nose is one of the spiciest of this night of 9 vintages of Ch. Musar Red.......candied. Palate is beautifully fresh, alive, vibrant, quite sweet and always reminds me of those small Chinese 'Gai Tzi' red dates. Heady and deeply resonant. Thrilling and full of greater promise for the future.
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Flight 5 - Cheese platter - Manchego, Parmesan, Gorgonzola, Sottocenere a Tartufo, Murcia al Vina & Crackers with Grapes (3 notes)
Red
1999 Chateau Musar
92 points
Perfectly transparent jeweled ruby in colour. Nose is nail varnish remover and lots of pleasant VA, quite penetrating and hiding a lot of complexity in the background. Palate is sweet, dry, still surprisingly tannic, sophisticated but not yet even half-unfurled. Great......and lots of upside potential over the next 10 years.
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Red
2001 Chateau Musar Hochar Père & Fils
93 points
I drank this with Marc's dad in 2008 and was not at all convinced, marking it 83 points and saw no longevity in it.......well I got that wrong! Transparent light dusky velvet red in colour. Nose is .... wow!....... figs....lavender...small wild woodland strawberries.. Palate is sweet, very rounded, liqueur-like but very light, extremely rounded, full-force, very resonant and hauntingly reverberant with a length that goes on forever. Fabulous. One of the guests, Rob, brought two bottles and wowed Marc who has not seen the 2001 in years because the family don't keep a library of Per & Fils back vintages. When Marc was organising the decantings ahead of the dinner it was clear that this was the wine he was most excited to try at dinner. Cool....
Red
2008 Chateau Musar
My first experience of this vintage. Semi-opaque bright ruby jewel colour. Nose is young classic Musar.... heavy VA, lots of high piano notes, clearly immature. Palate is liqueur-like heavily extracted cherry. Tannic and a bit headachey. None of this is surprising because the Hochars alway say that they only drink their wine when it is 15 years old (at least they do us the great favour of not releasing it for 8 years...so hold off for another 7 years). I do think this could evolve into a blockbuster vintage with sufficient patience. Too young to score.
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Flight 6 - Intermezzo (2 notes)
Marc had silently pulled these out of his bag and added them to the line-up when he realised what many of the guests had contributed.
Red
1974 Chateau Musar
95 points
My first experience of this vintage....not surprising because it was originally held back for being too weak (Marc: "we were wrong") and only released 30 years later. So it is one of the very few 1970s vintages where large stocks are available.
Totally transparent fresh and bright light ruby colour. Nose is light, lifted, Will o' the Wisp, "catch me if you can".....old leather boots, petrol, etc.....amazing! Palate is light Burgundian....exquisite, so beguiling....so special....all lightness and power. Incredible freshness on the palate. Mounting resonance from the mid palate onwards....then the reverberance and resonance went into a totally different dimension on the finish. The last sip was the best. As other CT taster have observed, it reminds me of a really old but recently released Rioja.....like the 1942 Vina Real Bosconia I drank 18 months back. This was an unpublicised 'thank you' from Marc for the old vintages that all the guests had contributed to the dinner. 95+ if you like your wine tertiary in evolution. Thanks, Marc!
Totally transparent fresh and bright light ruby colour. Nose is light, lifted, Will o' the Wisp, "catch me if you can".....old leather boots, petrol, etc.....amazing! Palate is light Burgundian....exquisite, so beguiling....so special....all lightness and power. Incredible freshness on the palate. Mounting resonance from the mid palate onwards....then the reverberance and resonance went into a totally different dimension on the finish. The last sip was the best. As other CT taster have observed, it reminds me of a really old but recently released Rioja.....like the 1942 Vina Real Bosconia I drank 18 months back. This was an unpublicised 'thank you' from Marc for the old vintages that all the guests had contributed to the dinner. 95+ if you like your wine tertiary in evolution. Thanks, Marc!
White
1975 Chateau Musar Blanc
96 points
A late-minute 'thank you' contribution from Marc after he saw the number of old vintages contributed by guests. My second experience of this vintage. Medium gold colour that belies its age. Nose is furniture varnish and very slight hints of buttered toffee popcorn. Palate is immediately ....WOW! ...burnt almonds, burnt creme caramel, Hong Kong 'dan tat' egg tarts and five hundred variations on a fugue of burnt caramel. Dry and structured but so rounded and complete.......like a very dry version of a top vintage of Ch. D'Yquem. Holy cow! My WOTN. Thanks, Marc!
Flight 7 - Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cake with Soft Honey Whipped Cream & Mascerated Berries (2 notes)
White
2003 Chateau Musar Blanc
90 points
The last of 16 Musars served over dinner......Medium gold. Nose is petrolly almonds and some honeysuckle. Palate is very approachable and open Rhone-style slight oxidisation and medium acidity with lots of peach stones. Firm tannins and good structure. Definitely dry by Musar Blanc standards. This reaffirmed my last note from 2012 that this has a decade or three in front of it. 90+
Spirits
N.V. Chateau Musar L'Arack de Musar
90 points
I have drank this at several Ch. Musar dinners and to quote Star Trek "it is not Arack as we know it Jim". It's cleanliness and purity always reminds me of the Grappa produced for private consumption by Bart and Daphne Araujo at Eisele in Napa......just a simple eau de vie that becomes seriously good when made by a great winemaker.
Closing
There is always something special when Ch. Musar afficionados get together and tonight was no exception.
A big shout-out to the staff at Crown, who were superb in orchestrating so many wines and glasses along with the great set menu.