February 9, 2024 - Mamnoon: Sadly and hideously corked.
November 23, 2023 - A blend of the white grape varietals Obaideh (57%) and Merwah (40%) grown at high altitude, with a dash of Cinsault, mixed before fermentation. Fermented and aged in French oak for 9 months. 12% ABV.
Medium salmon colour. Floral notes, rose petal, violet, citrus, lemon peel, tangerine peel, blood orange, light red fruit notes, almond, light herbal notes, a hint of spice, and saline minerality, with great acidity, and impressive length. Smoothly textured and well balanced. A light woodiness is mildly disturbing, but subsides if the wine is paired with food. To my surprise, the wine stood up to high-class dark chocolate (80% cocoa). Very fresh, with great persistence, and with very good depth for a rosé. Only the lightly drying woodiness ruins it for me at this point 91(+)(?)
June 9, 2023 - Lebanese night, Chateau Musar tasting (Vilnius, Lithuania): Chateau Musar tasting, flight 1/4, wine 3/12. Vines are located at 1200 meters of altitude, made from a blend of 57% Obaideh, 40% Merwah and 3% Cinsault, aged for 9 months in new FR oak. Provencal pale salmon colour. Medium+ intensity aroma of dried strawberries and cherries, smoke, lanolin, earth, sea shell, spices, almonds. Medium body, fresh and rich with soft and round structure, medium+ intensity nearly fruitless flavours mirroring aroma, some faded red fruit nuances with bitter and saline touches.
November 17, 2022 - Rather floral, good acidity - will be interesting with more age.
September 3, 2022 - Nice aromatics of orange blossom and peach. On the palate, white peach, melon, orange peel, caramel and saline. Overall impression of sweet and sour, very distinctive and approachable now.
June 8, 2022 - A blend of white Obaideh (57%) and Merwah (40%) with a 3% addition of red Cinsaut to add color. All varieties are blended, co-fermented and aged for 6-9 months in French oak barrels. 12% alcohol. Tasted blind.
Pale peachy orange color. Sweet, distinctively perfumed nose with aromas of strawberry marshmallow, marzipan, some floral notes of cow parsley bloom, a little bit of apple jam, light sawdusty notes of dull woody oak, a hint of Hubba-Bubba and a touch of white peach. The wine is ripe, crunchy and medium-to-moderately full-bodied on the palate with dry flavors of fresh red apple and white peach, some perfumed floral notes, a little bit of dull, sawdusty oak, light woolly notes of lanolin, a candied hint of marshmallow and a mineral touch of wet stones. The high acidity lends the wine good sense of freshness and structure. The finish is crisp yet a bit dull with medium-long flavors of sawdust and woolly lanolin, some floral notes of cow parsley, light stony mineral notes, a little bit of ripe white peach and a touch of salinity.
The wine was very easily recognizable and several people guessed Chateau Musar Rosé, me included, 2016 vintage being the most likely suspect. While the wine showed good freshness with its high acidity, the overall feel was a bit dull and dusty with the dry woody oak lending a somewhat woolly character to the wine. The tutti frutti notes from the fruit department didn't really go that well with the woody tones either. The wine isn't funky in any way - unlike most Musar reds and some whites - but even though this rosé is based on the white Musar, it lacks the richness and complexity of its white counterpart. I wonder if it's because of the age (white Musar is always released with a lot more bottle age) or if there is something else going on. Even if I'm a big fan of Musar reds and whites, these rosé versions rarely seem to do the trick - at least not without significant bottle age. While it was obvious in our rosé blind tasting that this was Musar, this time it really didn't leave as lasting an impression as many other rosé wines did.
August 2, 2021 - Light amber rose.
Nose some almost orange wine notes, a mineral floral note.
Palate faint peach fruit, mineral, some black cherry flavors surprisingly.
Nice fruity depth and seems young still, this is a rosé to ponder
July 14, 2021 - Anniversary Dinner at Martina (Martina, Mpls): Salmon rose color. Drank a glass over 45 minutes. Very earthy, mushroom, red fruits, melon rind, red flowers, cherry, stone and white pepper across the nose and palate. This carries through with white fruits on the finish a lacquer note. This was a fun wine for sure with a different style that was both intriguing and pleasurable. 90+ to 91pts.
June 24, 2021 - I really like this wine. The fruit comes across as kind of a dried cranberry meets a touch of strawberry. Solid acidity and overall balance. One glass survived to the following day and I found it even more lively and enjoyable than the previous night. Hopefully I can keep my hands off the remaining bottles for a while.
May 9, 2021 - My first experience with one of Musar’s Rosés and I’ve got to say that it reminds me a lot of their Blanc but with a kiss of red fruit…which, in a sense, is exactly how this wine is made. Popped and poured; consumed over two hours. Served just a touch below cellar temp but it warmed in the glass. The wine presents as a sort of pale copper color. On the nose, a rather fascinating array of fruit including strawberry, watermelon, bing cherry, grapefruit, and generic tropical fruit. On the palate, I’m reminded more of Rainier cherries with kiwi, lemon, lanolin and almond skin. A rather fabulous body with wonderful texture…not too unlike LdH’s Tondonia Rosado, actually. Medium- tannin and medium+ acid. The finish is long and satisfying. No doubt, this is a very nerdy rosé and one that I look forward to experiencing more often!