Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Friday, February 25, 2022 - Made with Obaideh (65%) and Merwah (35%) grapes sourced from ungrafted, low-yielding vineyards over 50 years of age, located at the altitude of 1,200 meters (4,000 feet) above sea level. The vintage 2000 started quite even and very pleasant, allowing for a successful flowering. However, the July and August temperatures were noticeably above the average throughout the growing season, resulting in noticeably ripe grapes. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged for about a year in partly new French 225-liter barriques. Bottled in late 2001. 12,5% alcohol, pH 3,65. Tasted in a Musar Blanc 2012-1994 vertical.

Very evolved coppery to pale orange color - noticeably darker than any other vintage we tasted. The nose feels oxidative, savory and old with aromas of roasted nuts, some smoky tones, a little bit of bruised apple, light aldehydic notes of sorrel and Amontillado Sherry, a hint of mushroomy funk and a touch of beeswax. The wine is gentle, mellow and rather soft on the palate with a moderately full body quite tertiary flavors of dried stone fruits and caramel, some nutty nuances of roasted walnut, light aldehydic notes of sorrel and Amontillado Sherry, a little bit of volatile lift and a sweeter touch of applesauce. The quite modest acidity feels rather low in relation to the body. The finish is long, tertiary and rather dry with complex flavors of roasted nuts, some raisiny notes of Sultanas, a little bit of caramel, light aldehydic notes of sorrel, a hint of bruised apple and a touch of mushroomy funk.

This was my second time I got to taste the white Musar 2000, and this is the second time the wine disappointed. The first time (January 2016) the wine was corked, this time it was just old and clearly going downhill. Unlike the other vintages in this tasting that felt more oxidative, this didn't do a magic turn with air, but instead only gradually got worse with air. It seemed quite obvious that this wine had seen better days and there was only one direction it was headed. It might be that we were just victims of bottle variation and this wasn't representative of the vintage, but seeing how the wine felt a bit overripe, raisiny and low in acidity, it's certainly possible that this vintage wasn't just as long-lived as the surrounding vintages.

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