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. 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 a combination of new French 225-liter barriques (25%) and stainless steel tanks. 12% alcohol. Tasted in a Musar Blanc 2012-1994 vertical.

Moderately evolved pale bronze color. At first the nose feels very tertiary, even moderately oxidative with aromas of Oloroso Sherry, Sultana raisins and mushroomy funk. However, the nose opens up remarkably well with some air, fleshing out with aromas of dried pineapple, some caramel tones, a little bit of beeswax, light umami nuances of consommé, fruity hints of honeydew melon and a touch of roasted nuts. The wine is rich, evolved and ripe on the palate with a full body with somewhat tertiary and slightly sweet-toned flavors of honeydew melon, some nutty complexity, a little bit of sorrel, light caramel tones, a hint of mushroomy funk and a touch of beeswax. The overall taste feels mature, but not as tertiary and oxidative as the nose. The overall feel is balanced, precise and pretty structured, thanks to the high acidity. The finish is dry, evolved and moderately tertiary with lengthy flavors of ripe yellow fruits, some oxidative nutty tones, a little bit of juicy yellow apple, light developed notes of dried white peach, a hint of honey and a savory touch of evolved umami character.

This vintage of Musar white is very confusing for me. The bottle I tasted in May 2016 seemed very mature - even slightly more so than this bottle - whereas the bottle I tasted in February 2020 was remarkably youthful, even backward, especially compared to the surrounding vintages 2005 and 2003 that were tasted at the same time. This bottle is again one of those more evolved ones, and many dismissed the wine right off the bat as oxidized and faulty. However, to me the wine seemed only surprisingly advanced for its age, but definitely not undrinkable. And behold! The wine only needed some air, as the fruitier nuances that were completely absent soon after opening the bottle emerged only after an hour or so, making it much more enjoyable and balanced. Nevertheless, the wine was still much more advanced than what I expected a white Musar of this age to be, so one really should be wary of this vintage - the bottles can be in wildly different phases of evolution. But if one comes across a more evolved bottle, it shouldn't be dismissed immediately - Musar always encourages people to decant and aerate their Chateau-level wines and this is not an exception. At 39,60€, this was priced according to its quality.

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