Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Friday, February 25, 2022 - Made with Obaideh and Merwah 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. A very cool vintage: snow didn't melt until March, spring lasted until June and the ripening period was slowed down by constant cooler breezes. The white grapes never developed much sugar (hovering around 12% potential alcohol) and were rather low in pH, showing balanced levels of acidity. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged for 9 months in partly new French 225-liter barriques. 12,5% alcohol. Tasted in a Musar Blanc 2012-1994 vertical.

Deep golden yellow color. Evolved, very complex and still remarkably fruit-forward nose with captivating, sweetish aromas of caramel and lemon marmalade, some acacia honey, a little bit of wizened apricot, light sweet notes of bitter almond oil or cherry pits, a developed hint of creaminess - even strawberry cream - and a touch of almost overripe apricot. Lots of stuff happening here. The wine feels rich, textural and even slightly oily on the palate with ripe and moderately evolved flavors of spicy wildhoney, some wizened peach tones, a little bit of developed creaminess, light toffee nuances, a hint of stone minerality and a sweet touch of Sultanas. The medium-to-moderately high acidity doesn't feel as bright and zippy as in some vintages, but it is more than adequate to keep the wine balanced and structured enough. The long finish is impressively complex with subtly sweetish flavors of ripe apricots, some dried-fruit notes of Sultanas and wizened nectarines, a little bit of oxidative nuttiness, light caramel tones, a hint of exotic brown spices and a touch of candied orange peel.

This is the fifth time I taste this particular vintage of Musar Blanc, and apart from the less impressive bottle we had in early 2020, this has been consistently one of the most impressive vintages of white Musar. The acidity feels a bit on the low side here - at least compared to some of the vintages - and while the lack of acidic zip doesn't make the wine feel unbalanced in any way, it feels the wine is evolving a bit fasted than some other vintages, making the wine appear slightly weightier and more dull with age. Thus, it might be that even this was one of the most impressive wines we opened this night, it might be possible that this wine was showing its best 5 years ago. This is still and extraordinary wine, but not as exceptional as it has been. Or then it's just bottle variation. Or then this vintage is in a slight slump at the moment, so perhaps this will be again something otherworldly in another 5-10 years. Who knows? What matters to me is that at just 30€ this has been an absolute steal.

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