Cork disintegrated so I was worried, but worry not as this was open for business from the get go. Ripe redcurrant, strawberry jam, raisin, as well as savoury leather. Must have been a warm year and not as much spice as other Musar’s I’ve had. Maybe I had low expectations after the cork, but this was drinking very nicely indeed
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From memory - this had 2 hours of air, and was then ready to go vs a little tight to start. Very nice, low-toned on the acetone quality that I love, but the powerful fruit and wild funk were there to complement a greek-styled lamb shank magnificently. Upon drinking I had the impression that this was in the youthful side of its window already.
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I also would not look at a Musar before 10 years old but this was very well made indeed. Still some soft tannins that need to dissipate but the tradition raisiny fruit is there in abundance and within 5 years this will be beautifully balanced and very much traditional Musar rather than the worrying drift towards a global style that some recent vintages have shown.
I generally think that drinking Musar before its 10th year is premature, but this from 375cl is really beginning to drink well, and promises to be an excellent Musar.
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Cork had "veins" going half way up the side. Wasn't corked at least. Decanter for 2 hours. Very rich and fruit forward. Sweet strawberry, raspberry and plum? There was a tangyness that I enjoyed. Overall, maybe a tad too jammy for my taste and maybe a bit one dimensional. I don't want to judge it too harshly as I still enjoyed it and I feel like it deserves a 92. Curious to try other vintages I have in the cellar and some bottles with more age.
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Drinking very well now. Tanins softening nicely and developing some welcome complexity with a long finish. 3rd bottle of a case of 6, so has been great to follow the evolution. Still got some years ahead.
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A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Cinsaut, one third of each. The vintage 2014 in Beqaa was exceptionally dry, continuing from the dry end of 2013, showing no rain, snow or cold weather. These dry weathers continued into the summer, and by August the vines were already suffering from lack of water. Cabernet suffered the most from the lack of water and Carignan was somewhat affected, too. Cinsaut, as usual, didn't have any problems and matured as usual. The wine was fermented spontaneously, all varieties separately in concrete tanks. Due to the atypically high sugar content, the start of the fermentation of Cabernet and Carignan was sluggish and took a long time, whereas Cinsaut fermented pretty normally. The fermented varietal wines were aged in oak barrels for a year, blended in January 2017, then left to marry for a few months and bottled unfined and unfiltered in summer 2017. 14% alcohol, 4 g/l residual sugar, 6,7 g/l acidity. Aerated in a decanter for four hours before tasting the wine.
Surprisingly evolved and quite opaque maroon-red color with a nutty-brown hue towards the rim. The nose feels old, somewhat tired and a bit oxidative with aromas of raisiny dark fruit and dried dates, some soy sauce tones, a little bit of cherry marmalade, light lifted notes of VA, a funky hint of old leather and a touch of earth. The wine feels ripe, silky and somewhat sweet-toned on the palate with a full body and quite aged flavors of raisins and dried dates, some strawberry jam, a little bit of hoi sin, light nuances of wizened black cherries, a lifted hint of nail polish and a touch of beef jerky. The acidity feels a bit soft due to the rather sweet-toned dried-fruit flavors, so the structure relies mostly on the moderately assertive and quite grippy tannins. The finish is juicy, quite grippy and surprisingly raisiny with a long, aged aftertaste of dried dates and prunes, some hoi sin, a little bit of strawberry jam, light bitter notes of roasted earthy spices, a hint of wizened black cherries and a volatile touch of nail polish.
I was surprised by this bottle: having tasted it 1½ years ago, it was still super youthful and very stern with relatively high acidity - despite the somewhat solar disposition of the wine. Instead this bottle was showing visible signs of age with somewhat noticeable browning in the color and oxidative notes of soy sauce and beef jerky in the nose. I really hope we had just a bummer bottle and this was not indicative of the vintage and how it is developing. I want to emphasize that the wine wasn't past its peak or in shambles, only way more advanced than a Musar less than 10 years old should be - after all, 1½ years ago I assessed this was a great vintage in the making. I hope my next 2014 Musar is going to be less tertiary than this. Priced somewhat according to its quality at 40,98€.
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Decanted for a little over an hour & all the initial VA disappeared. Such a great bottle that got more intense with dark fruit as the night went on. Might try to decant for 2 hours next time.
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Lots of VA on the nose. Slight cherry cough syrup smell which comes on the palette as well. Strawberry. Balsamic vinegar. Light, well integrated tannins. A bit on the sweeter side. Very little complexity. Short finish. Don't get it at all.
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Fresh as a daisy but the liveliness is driven by tangy volatile acidity. Doesn't really harm the wine but a minor distraction nevertheless. Modern red berries and sensibly ripe. Has a long life ahead it would seem.
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Musarathon (Ariana II): Young. Young young young. On first tasting, the oak is really prominent - it has the sense of “international wine that comes from a place with ambition and the means to get a top consultant and top barrels” - but after that initial shock, there’s clearly lovely fruit behind it. I suspect that drunk on its own, or in a slightly different context, this would shine even more - but even now, a lovely wine, and i’d be happy if i owned some.
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A well-balanced mix of sweet cherries, plums, and raisins. Tobacco, toffee, and coffee come from the barrels. Maybe the 2014 vintage is a little bit spicier than 2013? Anyway, wonderfully smooth structure, well-integrated fine-grained tannins, and a long and fruity finish. I really like this wine!
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Pageou m Kind+Ruf) (CS, Car, Cinsault) Sehr eindrucksvoll u interessant. Mein erster Musar. Eine Gewürzbombe aus dem Libanon als Bordeaux-Cuvé getarnt. Schwarzrote Farbe mit leichtem Purpur. Am Gaumen Thymian, Koriander, Zimt und anderes mehr - aparte Mischung, gestützt von einer schönen reifen Säure. Toller, recht kräftiger Auftritt. Wird im Verlauf etwas milder. Mittlerer Körper. Schöne klassische Länge. Macht richtig Spaß. Meines Erachtens am Beginn seiner Hochphase (2021-20230).
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Challenging nail varnish/VA nose - classic Musar? There was some of that on the palate but it’s smooth and interesting, with some dried fruit and leather. Decanted 5 hours from half bottle - felt it was even more enjoyable on day 2.
Tasted from single glass as a restaurant wine pairing. Nice, full nose. On palate red fruits notes with spices. Balanced by tertiary leather and earthiness. Well put together and decent structure but not hugely complex.
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The wine is slightly hazy and deep purple in colour There is some sediment in the bottle.
On the nose: Strawberry, cherry, cranberry to start then some pencil shavings and smoke and some meatiness to finish.
On the palate: Sweet red fruit with some apple and peach citrus acidity, the secondary flavour pencil shavings damp leaves and leather
The body is medium. The wine has a fresh, grippy texture. The wine finishes long. The wine has medium acidity. The wine has medium, to high tannins.
Conclusion Love Musar, super interesting as always. Gave this wine a long decant it is very young. Wine starts with sweet red fruit, leading to some citrus type acidity and finishes with savoury, meaty flavours. The wine could do with more time in the cellar to develop and improve. I think drink 2025 - 2035
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Long decant Ox-blood in color, fuller bodied. Ripe red fruit. Medicinal, some light vanilla and oak Tightly wound. Tannin and acidity are aggressive. Medium finish. Sour cherries. This wine has great potential. It NEEDS time. 5++ years at the earliest. Great value bottle.
Pizza and sausage c/o Britt
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Terrific structure and fruit. Should gain in complexity over the next decade at least. Needs about an hour in the decanter now but very approachable. Good value.
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A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Cinsaut, one third of each. The vintage 2014 in Beqaa was exceptionally dry, continuing from the dry end of 2013, showing no rain, snow or cold weather. These dry weathers continued into the summer, and by August the vines were already suffering from lack of water. Cabernet suffered the most from the lack of water and Carignan was somewhat affected, too. Cinsaut, as usual, didn't have any problems and matured as usual. The wine was fermented spontaneously, all varieties separately in concrete tanks. Due to the atypically high sugar content, the start of the fermentation of Cabernet and Carignan was sluggish and took a long time, whereas Cinsaut fermented pretty normally. The fermented varietal wines were aged in oak barrels for a year, blended in January 2017, then left to marry for a few months and bottled unfined and unfiltered in summer 2017. 14% alcohol, 4 g/l residual sugar, 6,7 g/l acidity. Aerated in a decanter for approx. 45 minutes.
Deep, almost fully opaque black cherry red with a slightly evolved figgy hue. Sunny, fragrant and moderately wild nose with a classic, lifted Musar streak of sweet ethyl acetate (VA, somewhere between fruit candies and nail polish), followed by rich aromas of figs, some juicy black cherries, light pruney tones suggesting a hot vintage, a little bit of savory meaty character, a hint of leathery funk and a touch of balsamic richness. As is typical of Musar, no obvious oak notes whatsoever, even if the wine is freshly released. The wine feels ripe, juicy and full-bodied on the palate with quite solar flavors of sweet, dark plums and wizened figs, some juicy blackcurrant tones, a little bit of fresh black raspberry, light floral notes of elderflower, a lifted hint of sweet CO2 and a touch of balsamic richness. Upon opening there was a subtle hint of CO2 prickle, but that disappeared during the aeration. The overall feel is impressively structured - perhaps even more so than normal - with high acidity and moderately assertive, quite grippy tannins. The alcohol shows a little bit, especially towards the aftertaste. The finish is juicy, quite tannic and slightly sweet-toned with powerful flavors of ripe dark plums and slightly wizened figs, some cherry tones, a little bit of chokeberry and sour cherry bitterness, light raisiny notes, a slightly acetic hint of balsamic VA and a touch of blackberry marmalade.
A very powerful, structured and slightly sweet-toned vintage of Musar that bears some characteristics typical of a warm, dry vintage. The overall feel is similarly solar and sweetish as the hot 2012 vintage, but this wine feels perhaps slightly less pruney and more structured in style, showing impressively tightly-knit overall feel and less jammy fruit. What bothered me a little bit here was the slight CO2 prickle, but fortunately even that disappeared quite quickly with a decant. I can also imagine that characteristic will disappear from the wine as it ages in a cellar. Overall the wine shows great potential for future development - I just hope the wine doesn't continue to become more pruney and porty as it ages, but instead starts to emphasize more of its earthier, savory nuances. It's still quite hard to assess this vintage fully as the wine is still so "young", but it feels like just in 2013, this is a great vintage in the making. However, only with some more age it will become clear whether this is going to be a truly great vintage or "just" a very good one. At least the promise is there. As always, this is solid value at 40,98€.
The 2014 vintage was the last harvest while Serge Hochar was still alive. He tragically drowned while on holiday, NYE in 2014. I have no logical reason to be wary of Musar’s future as the team involved in producing the wines have been in place for some time. However, Serge’s death was for me, the loss of an wine hero. This is my first experience with the 2014 and I can’t help but reflect on the unforgettable experiences I’ve had drinking wines that he produced.
Decanted for several hours prior to dinner, the wine appears a deep purple turning garnet after plenty of air with an opaque core. High intensity, medium+ viscosity, a touch of sediment. On the nose, this is a wild carnival for the senses with cherries, mulberries, rhubarb pie, Twin Bing, harissa, kofta, pipe tobacco, oud, teriyaki, and even canned peaches (though only after some time in the glass). On the palate, things are much more modest with a very compelling cherry compote and bright cranberry notes with some tobacco and baking spices. Very primary at this stage. Medium tannin with medium+ acid. The finish long…forever and a day with dried cherries and dates bringing me home. While still an infant, this is shaping up to be a lovely and long-lived vintage of Musar Rouge. Cheers, Serge. Your legacy lives on.
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Musar Vertical: Stunning strawberry-cocktail here, some volatile acidity again, wonderful herbal freshness, balsamico, really harmonious on the nose like a top notch barolo. The palate is energetic, but approachable at the moment, it’s absolutely sexy and irresistible right now. Is Musar always this sexy when it’s so blood-young or is it really just this vintage? Either way, an absolute delight at the moment with incredible potential. 18.5+/20
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Den här årgången känns mycket yngre än 2013 gjorde vid samma ålder. Under tiden vinet luftas så byter det skepnad flera gånger. Efter tillräckligt med luft (3h) så framträder sötman och lyfter frukten och kryddigheten. Sötman är dock inte lika framträdande som i vissa årgångar. Här finns även framträdande toner av blod och järn.
Med tillräcklig luftning går den absolut att dricka redan nu. Men den lär bli än mer intressant framöver.
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Why does Musar always score so poorly with critics? Pound for pound this domain is the best wine in my cellar. The ‘98 and ‘03 are both superb years and every bit as complex and sophisticated as some Bordeaux three times the price. Plus the young Musar like this delicious ‘14 drink like a sweet fruity GSM / Rhone blockbuster. I LOVE this wine. Currently enjoying with a Thai curry. I hope the Chinese don’t discover this gem as it’s ridiculously underpriced. Bravo Musar.
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From a half bottle (375 ml). Deep, opaque, colour and a complex nose with good fruit. A surprisingly fresh palate with excellent fruit, acidity, and length. The tannins are soft and integrated. Masses of potential but the youthfulness dominates. I have never opened a Chateau Musar red so young and I feel this needs at least a decade yet to show its best. However, it opened nicely and changed, chameleon-like, in the glass suggesting a great future. Lovely, young wine now but it is still ‘in nappies (diapers)’. My rating is based on pleasure now but will, no doubt, rise as it develops in the future.
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Lush ruby red. Immediately after opening nose a little closed but it opens to a brooding mix of smoke, spice, herbs, cherry, leather perhaps, slightly high toned; with more time caramel and cola. In the mouth, so silky! Seems to float across the tongue, so smooth and savoury, yet a sweetness and richness. Prominent acidity but well integrated I think. Lovely. It feels much more refined that the second wine.
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Vertical Musar online tasting from 50ml bottle. Quite deep colour, garnet at the rim. Very intense nose, baked fig, raspberry jam, prune, cinnamon & vanilla. Full bodied rich and complex with soft acidity. Much more youthful than the 2013.
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Chateau Musar Virtual Vertical with Nickolls and Perks (Zoom): Initially a rather rubbery note on the nose, along with some very deep black fruit and some volatility. The rubberiness started to wear off with time and aeration. Very sweet red fruit on the palate: very soft and rounded, and (obviously) feeling fairly young and vibrant. It will be interesting to see how develops.
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So I tried this just because I was really curious about what 2014 tasted like. Don’t be like me. Be smarter. It doesn’t do Chateau Musar justice to drink this now. Wait another three years at least. Still, I’ve tasted a lot worse! 😅
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Just finished the remaining bottles of 2006 and 2008, this came in the end as a top up and it proved wonderfully balanced and fresh, more on lime and menthol notes combined with the usual earthy and cloves themes of the chateau. Just wonderful! Nice acidity carrying this wine. A very peaceful food wine.
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Zoom tasting of Musar wines, hosted by Auriol Wine, Hampshire, UK with wines introduced by Elliott O'Mara of Chateau Musar UK. The first of three vintages in the tasting, the others being 2010 and 1998. A blend of cabernet sauvignon, cinsault and carignan. Garnet colour, young looking in the glass. The nose is a little closed, not much fruit showing yet. Rich fruit on the palate, spicy, the cabernet appears prominent. This is too young and needs 5-10 years in bottle.
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Dark, deep and compact nose: sense of cream, maybe even some vanilla. The characteristic wildness is here, a sense of scrub too but nothing too acetic and certainly nothing notably oxidative. Feels like it needs a decant (or worth trying again in a couple of days).
Full-bodied, there is a greater sense of wildness here, the ‘farmhouse cider-richness’, notes of old cellars and a little raisin (so some oxidative notes), but overall pretty fruity and a good fresh vein with it. Lively, juicy and creamy in parts, the tannins are ripe and well-integrated, grainy in texture and a touch of grip. Long, smoky (?), liquorice and exotic wood on the finish.
I appreciate it, I don’t find this release odd or anything, but it needs to open out and it is ‘darker’ than I recall as per other comments. Would love to try this with a proper decant and some food, when i'm sure i'd upscore it by a point or two.
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Unusually deep for Musar: blood red core, crimson rim; rich bouquet, polished(!), black fruit, tell-tale Musar-esque hickory wood smoke; plush fruit overlays supple tannins, refreshing acidity; latent power, fulsome finish, very long. Approachable now, but no reason this won't age well.
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5/4/2024 - Gone with the wine Likes this wine: 94 Points
Cork disintegrated so I was worried, but worry not as this was open for business from the get go. Ripe redcurrant, strawberry jam, raisin, as well as savoury leather. Must have been a warm year and not as much spice as other Musar’s I’ve had. Maybe I had low expectations after the cork, but this was drinking very nicely indeed
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4/22/2024 - srp_gc Likes this wine:
First of the case; Very young, but still very enjoyable.
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3/27/2024 - Danneskjöld wrote: 93 Points
Søt krydret duft av plommer og lær. God konsentrasjon og tørr utgang med god lengde.
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3/4/2024 - stet Likes this wine: 92 Points
From memory - this had 2 hours of air, and was then ready to go vs a little tight to start. Very nice, low-toned on the acetone quality that I love, but the powerful fruit and wild funk were there to complement a greek-styled lamb shank magnificently. Upon drinking I had the impression that this was in the youthful side of its window already.
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2/5/2024 - Loathesome Likes this wine: 93 Points
I also would not look at a Musar before 10 years old but this was very well made indeed. Still some soft tannins that need to dissipate but the tradition raisiny fruit is there in abundance and within 5 years this will be beautifully balanced and very much traditional Musar rather than the worrying drift towards a global style that some recent vintages have shown.
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8/14/2023 - xeenee wrote:
Chateau Musar 2014
비비노4.3 내평점4.0
레바논 베카밸리
까베네쇼비뇽 까리냥 쌩쇼 블랜딩
알콜14% 구매금액 9만 후반
짙은가넷 색상
바디M++ 존재감 있는 뻣뻣한 탄닌
새콤한 산도M++ 드라이
까쇼 늬앙스가 강한 느낌이며 밸런스가 좋다
첫잔에서 체리자두의 과실향이 지배적인 느낌
1시간 정도 지나니 향이 다채로위진다
검은자두 체리 라즈베리 바닐라, 오크 나무 계피
피니쉬가 준수하며 허브향이 꽤 길고 기분좋게 마무리
빈티지에 따른 퀄리티 편차가 심하다는 후문도 있으나
14빈이 그중 역대급이라는 얘기로 구매
스테이크 페어링은 꽤나 만족스러웠다
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4/14/2023 - finewinebuff57 wrote: 90 Points
I generally think that drinking Musar before its 10th year is premature, but this from 375cl is really beginning to drink well, and promises to be an excellent Musar.
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4/5/2023 - DevenStephens Likes this wine: 92 Points
Cork had "veins" going half way up the side. Wasn't corked at least. Decanter for 2 hours. Very rich and fruit forward. Sweet strawberry, raspberry and plum? There was a tangyness that I enjoyed. Overall, maybe a tad too jammy for my taste and maybe a bit one dimensional. I don't want to judge it too harshly as I still enjoyed it and I feel like it deserves a 92. Curious to try other vintages I have in the cellar and some bottles with more age.
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3/30/2023 - Yagil wrote: 91 Points
Middle-Eastern wines (at Shaul Hod's): pronounced aromas & flavors of a solid BX-Style Mid-Eastern full-body wine
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3/17/2023 - SGosnold Likes this wine: 91 Points
Drinking very well now. Tanins softening nicely and developing some welcome complexity with a long finish. 3rd bottle of a case of 6, so has been great to follow the evolution. Still got some years ahead.
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3/11/2023 - forceberry wrote: 90 Points
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Cinsaut, one third of each. The vintage 2014 in Beqaa was exceptionally dry, continuing from the dry end of 2013, showing no rain, snow or cold weather. These dry weathers continued into the summer, and by August the vines were already suffering from lack of water. Cabernet suffered the most from the lack of water and Carignan was somewhat affected, too. Cinsaut, as usual, didn't have any problems and matured as usual. The wine was fermented spontaneously, all varieties separately in concrete tanks. Due to the atypically high sugar content, the start of the fermentation of Cabernet and Carignan was sluggish and took a long time, whereas Cinsaut fermented pretty normally. The fermented varietal wines were aged in oak barrels for a year, blended in January 2017, then left to marry for a few months and bottled unfined and unfiltered in summer 2017. 14% alcohol, 4 g/l residual sugar, 6,7 g/l acidity. Aerated in a decanter for four hours before tasting the wine.
Surprisingly evolved and quite opaque maroon-red color with a nutty-brown hue towards the rim. The nose feels old, somewhat tired and a bit oxidative with aromas of raisiny dark fruit and dried dates, some soy sauce tones, a little bit of cherry marmalade, light lifted notes of VA, a funky hint of old leather and a touch of earth. The wine feels ripe, silky and somewhat sweet-toned on the palate with a full body and quite aged flavors of raisins and dried dates, some strawberry jam, a little bit of hoi sin, light nuances of wizened black cherries, a lifted hint of nail polish and a touch of beef jerky. The acidity feels a bit soft due to the rather sweet-toned dried-fruit flavors, so the structure relies mostly on the moderately assertive and quite grippy tannins. The finish is juicy, quite grippy and surprisingly raisiny with a long, aged aftertaste of dried dates and prunes, some hoi sin, a little bit of strawberry jam, light bitter notes of roasted earthy spices, a hint of wizened black cherries and a volatile touch of nail polish.
I was surprised by this bottle: having tasted it 1½ years ago, it was still super youthful and very stern with relatively high acidity - despite the somewhat solar disposition of the wine. Instead this bottle was showing visible signs of age with somewhat noticeable browning in the color and oxidative notes of soy sauce and beef jerky in the nose. I really hope we had just a bummer bottle and this was not indicative of the vintage and how it is developing. I want to emphasize that the wine wasn't past its peak or in shambles, only way more advanced than a Musar less than 10 years old should be - after all, 1½ years ago I assessed this was a great vintage in the making. I hope my next 2014 Musar is going to be less tertiary than this. Priced somewhat according to its quality at 40,98€.
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2/22/2023 - adamanko wrote: 92 Points
Decanted for 3 hours and was great. A lot of plum. My son did not like it as much as I did. 92.
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1/12/2023 - SpitzNV Likes this wine: 90 Points
Grass and herbs on the nose. Sweet cherry and kirsch on the palate. Decent acidity and length but wanting more body.
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1/3/2023 - Movima Likes this wine: 88 Points
Too young to drink. Needs a couple of years yet.
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12/26/2022 - Livello Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted for a little over an hour & all the initial VA disappeared. Such a great bottle that got more intense with dark fruit as the night went on. Might try to decant for 2 hours next time.
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11/12/2022 - Vintage59 wrote:
It was corked.
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10/18/2022 - WTF My Email was Here? Does not like this wine: 87 Points
Lots of VA on the nose. Slight cherry cough syrup smell which comes on the palette as well. Strawberry. Balsamic vinegar. Light, well integrated tannins. A bit on the sweeter side. Very little complexity. Short finish. Don't get it at all.
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7/16/2022 - StewartWent wrote: 89 Points
Fresh as a daisy but the liveliness is driven by tangy volatile acidity. Doesn't really harm the wine but a minor distraction nevertheless. Modern red berries and sensibly ripe. Has a long life ahead it would seem.
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6/17/2022 - lozatron Likes this wine:
Musarathon (Ariana II): Young. Young young young. On first tasting, the oak is really prominent - it has the sense of “international wine that comes from a place with ambition and the means to get a top consultant and top barrels” - but after that initial shock, there’s clearly lovely fruit behind it. I suspect that drunk on its own, or in a slightly different context, this would shine even more - but even now, a lovely wine, and i’d be happy if i owned some.
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4/23/2022 - Miccog Likes this wine: 93 Points
A well-balanced mix of sweet cherries, plums, and raisins. Tobacco, toffee, and coffee come from the barrels. Maybe the 2014 vintage is a little bit spicier than 2013? Anyway, wonderfully smooth structure, well-integrated fine-grained tannins, and a long and fruity finish. I really like this wine!
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4/19/2022 - vintage_whine wrote:
Still plenty of ripe red and black fruit, slight stem, green resinous herbs, completely clean and no oak presence. Showing very ripe and modern
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4/6/2022 - Danneskjöld wrote: 92 Points
Krydret med søt frukt. Saftig frukt med god konsentrasjon og lengde.
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3/20/2022 - Axelpeter wrote: 93 Points
Pageou m Kind+Ruf) (CS, Car, Cinsault) Sehr eindrucksvoll u interessant. Mein erster Musar. Eine Gewürzbombe aus dem Libanon als Bordeaux-Cuvé getarnt. Schwarzrote Farbe mit leichtem Purpur. Am Gaumen Thymian, Koriander, Zimt und anderes mehr - aparte Mischung, gestützt von einer schönen reifen Säure. Toller, recht kräftiger Auftritt. Wird im Verlauf etwas milder. Mittlerer Körper. Schöne klassische Länge. Macht richtig Spaß. Meines Erachtens am Beginn seiner Hochphase (2021-20230).
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1/29/2022 - Doc Malvern wrote: 90 Points
Challenging nail varnish/VA nose - classic Musar? There was some of that on the palate but it’s smooth and interesting, with some dried fruit and leather. Decanted 5 hours from half bottle - felt it was even more enjoyable on day 2.
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1/9/2022 - remyworldpeace wrote: 87 Points
Tasted from single glass as a restaurant wine pairing. Nice, full nose. On palate red fruits notes with spices. Balanced by tertiary leather and earthiness. Well put together and decent structure but not hugely complex.
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12/11/2021 - Fine wine Lad Likes this wine: 90 Points
Wine decanted for 3h
The wine is slightly hazy and deep purple in colour
There is some sediment in the bottle.
On the nose: Strawberry, cherry, cranberry to start then some pencil shavings and smoke and some meatiness to finish.
On the palate: Sweet red fruit with some apple and peach citrus acidity, the secondary flavour pencil shavings damp leaves and leather
The body is medium.
The wine has a fresh, grippy texture.
The wine finishes long.
The wine has medium acidity.
The wine has medium, to high tannins.
Conclusion
Love Musar, super interesting as always. Gave this wine a long decant it is very young. Wine starts with sweet red fruit, leading to some citrus type acidity and finishes with savoury, meaty flavours.
The wine could do with more time in the cellar to develop and improve.
I think drink 2025 - 2035
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11/18/2021 - BastardMontrachet Likes this wine:
Väl utvecklad med dominans av svarta vinbär, komplex med bra syra och bett, väldigt bra och tillgänglig nu men fin frukt och utveckling redan
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10/17/2021 - Genghis88 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Long decant
Ox-blood in color, fuller bodied.
Ripe red fruit. Medicinal, some light vanilla and oak
Tightly wound. Tannin and acidity are aggressive. Medium finish. Sour cherries. This wine has great potential. It NEEDS time. 5++ years at the earliest. Great value bottle.
Pizza and sausage c/o Britt
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10/14/2021 - GlennO86 Likes this wine: 91 Points
See 2013 vintage. Very fruity and expressive. Leather, tobacco and cherry. A safe 'go to' wine 😃
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10/4/2021 - beatles wrote: 92 Points
Somey, vertical, dry, manly - very young, restrained and somewhat closed. Give it air, has real personality - better on day 2 & 3.
#podcast
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9/28/2021 - streethawk Likes this wine: 93 Points
Terrific structure and fruit. Should gain in complexity over the next decade at least. Needs about an hour in the decanter now but very approachable. Good value.
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9/11/2021 - forceberry wrote: 92 Points
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Cinsaut, one third of each. The vintage 2014 in Beqaa was exceptionally dry, continuing from the dry end of 2013, showing no rain, snow or cold weather. These dry weathers continued into the summer, and by August the vines were already suffering from lack of water. Cabernet suffered the most from the lack of water and Carignan was somewhat affected, too. Cinsaut, as usual, didn't have any problems and matured as usual. The wine was fermented spontaneously, all varieties separately in concrete tanks. Due to the atypically high sugar content, the start of the fermentation of Cabernet and Carignan was sluggish and took a long time, whereas Cinsaut fermented pretty normally. The fermented varietal wines were aged in oak barrels for a year, blended in January 2017, then left to marry for a few months and bottled unfined and unfiltered in summer 2017. 14% alcohol, 4 g/l residual sugar, 6,7 g/l acidity. Aerated in a decanter for approx. 45 minutes.
Deep, almost fully opaque black cherry red with a slightly evolved figgy hue. Sunny, fragrant and moderately wild nose with a classic, lifted Musar streak of sweet ethyl acetate (VA, somewhere between fruit candies and nail polish), followed by rich aromas of figs, some juicy black cherries, light pruney tones suggesting a hot vintage, a little bit of savory meaty character, a hint of leathery funk and a touch of balsamic richness. As is typical of Musar, no obvious oak notes whatsoever, even if the wine is freshly released. The wine feels ripe, juicy and full-bodied on the palate with quite solar flavors of sweet, dark plums and wizened figs, some juicy blackcurrant tones, a little bit of fresh black raspberry, light floral notes of elderflower, a lifted hint of sweet CO2 and a touch of balsamic richness. Upon opening there was a subtle hint of CO2 prickle, but that disappeared during the aeration. The overall feel is impressively structured - perhaps even more so than normal - with high acidity and moderately assertive, quite grippy tannins. The alcohol shows a little bit, especially towards the aftertaste. The finish is juicy, quite tannic and slightly sweet-toned with powerful flavors of ripe dark plums and slightly wizened figs, some cherry tones, a little bit of chokeberry and sour cherry bitterness, light raisiny notes, a slightly acetic hint of balsamic VA and a touch of blackberry marmalade.
A very powerful, structured and slightly sweet-toned vintage of Musar that bears some characteristics typical of a warm, dry vintage. The overall feel is similarly solar and sweetish as the hot 2012 vintage, but this wine feels perhaps slightly less pruney and more structured in style, showing impressively tightly-knit overall feel and less jammy fruit. What bothered me a little bit here was the slight CO2 prickle, but fortunately even that disappeared quite quickly with a decant. I can also imagine that characteristic will disappear from the wine as it ages in a cellar. Overall the wine shows great potential for future development - I just hope the wine doesn't continue to become more pruney and porty as it ages, but instead starts to emphasize more of its earthier, savory nuances. It's still quite hard to assess this vintage fully as the wine is still so "young", but it feels like just in 2013, this is a great vintage in the making. However, only with some more age it will become clear whether this is going to be a truly great vintage or "just" a very good one. At least the promise is there. As always, this is solid value at 40,98€.
And as an aside, this was my Musar TN #100. Whoo!
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9/5/2021 - thesternowl wrote: 94 Points
The 2014 vintage was the last harvest while Serge Hochar was still alive. He tragically drowned while on holiday, NYE in 2014. I have no logical reason to be wary of Musar’s future as the team involved in producing the wines have been in place for some time. However, Serge’s death was for me, the loss of an wine hero. This is my first experience with the 2014 and I can’t help but reflect on the unforgettable experiences I’ve had drinking wines that he produced.
Decanted for several hours prior to dinner, the wine appears a deep purple turning garnet after plenty of air with an opaque core. High intensity, medium+ viscosity, a touch of sediment. On the nose, this is a wild carnival for the senses with cherries, mulberries, rhubarb pie, Twin Bing, harissa, kofta, pipe tobacco, oud, teriyaki, and even canned peaches (though only after some time in the glass). On the palate, things are much more modest with a very compelling cherry compote and bright cranberry notes with some tobacco and baking spices. Very primary at this stage. Medium tannin with medium+ acid. The finish long…forever and a day with dried cherries and dates bringing me home. While still an infant, this is shaping up to be a lovely and long-lived vintage of Musar Rouge. Cheers, Serge. Your legacy lives on.
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8/30/2021 - ploher wrote:
Musar Vertical: Stunning strawberry-cocktail here, some volatile acidity again, wonderful herbal freshness, balsamico, really harmonious on the nose like a top notch barolo. The palate is energetic, but approachable at the moment, it’s absolutely sexy and irresistible right now. Is Musar always this sexy when it’s so blood-young or is it really just this vintage? Either way, an absolute delight at the moment with incredible potential. 18.5+/20
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8/8/2021 - erlendsalhus Likes this wine: 90 Points
Fersk frukt, lite tanninpreg. Mørke bær og urter. Svært lakrispreget. Dekantert i 2 timer, åpnet seg ytterligere i glasset.
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7/23/2021 - Gerbos Likes this wine: 89 Points
Den här årgången känns mycket yngre än 2013 gjorde vid samma ålder. Under tiden vinet luftas så byter det skepnad flera gånger. Efter tillräckligt med luft (3h) så framträder sötman och lyfter frukten och kryddigheten. Sötman är dock inte lika framträdande som i vissa årgångar. Här finns även framträdande toner av blod och järn.
Med tillräcklig luftning går den absolut att dricka redan nu. Men den lär bli än mer intressant framöver.
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7/9/2021 - DoctorBartolo wrote: 93 Points
Why does Musar always score so poorly with critics? Pound for pound this domain is the best wine in my cellar. The ‘98 and ‘03 are both superb years and every bit as complex and sophisticated as some Bordeaux three times the price. Plus the young Musar like this delicious ‘14 drink like a sweet fruity GSM / Rhone blockbuster. I LOVE this wine. Currently enjoying with a Thai curry. I hope the Chinese don’t discover this gem as it’s ridiculously underpriced. Bravo Musar.
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6/11/2021 - johnrm Likes this wine: 90 Points
From a half bottle (375 ml). Deep, opaque, colour and a complex nose with good fruit. A surprisingly fresh palate with excellent fruit, acidity, and length. The tannins are soft and integrated. Masses of potential but the youthfulness dominates. I have never opened a Chateau Musar red so young and I feel this needs at least a decade yet to show its best. However, it opened nicely and changed, chameleon-like, in the glass suggesting a great future.
Lovely, young wine now but it is still ‘in nappies (diapers)’. My rating is based on pleasure now but will, no doubt, rise as it develops in the future.
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6/1/2021 - m4rk Likes this wine:
Lush ruby red. Immediately after opening nose a little closed but it opens to a brooding mix of smoke, spice, herbs, cherry, leather perhaps, slightly high toned; with more time caramel and cola. In the mouth, so silky! Seems to float across the tongue, so smooth and savoury, yet a sweetness and richness. Prominent acidity but well integrated I think. Lovely. It feels much more refined that the second wine.
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5/13/2021 - winers4 Likes this wine:
Vertical Musar online tasting from 50ml bottle. Quite deep colour, garnet at the rim. Very intense nose, baked fig, raspberry jam, prune, cinnamon & vanilla. Full bodied rich and complex with soft acidity. Much more youthful than the 2013.
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5/13/2021 - andrewstevenson.com wrote: 91 Points
Chateau Musar Virtual Vertical with Nickolls and Perks (Zoom): Initially a rather rubbery note on the nose, along with some very deep black fruit and some volatility. The rubberiness started to wear off with time and aeration.
Very sweet red fruit on the palate: very soft and rounded, and (obviously) feeling fairly young and vibrant. It will be interesting to see how develops.
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5/1/2021 - EndreAabergJohansen wrote: 80 Points
So I tried this just because I was really curious about what 2014 tasted like. Don’t be like me. Be smarter. It doesn’t do Chateau Musar justice to drink this now. Wait another three years at least. Still, I’ve tasted a lot worse! 😅
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4/10/2021 - Willi Vinotti Likes this wine: 94 Points
Just finished the remaining bottles of 2006 and 2008, this came in the end as a top up and it proved wonderfully balanced and fresh, more on lime and menthol notes combined with the usual earthy and cloves themes of the chateau. Just wonderful! Nice acidity carrying this wine. A very peaceful food wine.
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3/19/2021 - Keith Cooper Likes this wine: 89 Points
Zoom tasting of Musar wines, hosted by Auriol Wine, Hampshire, UK with wines introduced by Elliott O'Mara of Chateau Musar UK. The first of three vintages in the tasting, the others being 2010 and 1998. A blend of cabernet sauvignon, cinsault and carignan. Garnet colour, young looking in the glass. The nose is a little closed, not much fruit showing yet. Rich fruit on the palate, spicy, the cabernet appears prominent. This is too young and needs 5-10 years in bottle.
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3/9/2021 - Shrewsram wrote: 90 Points
Very deep appearance, near opaque.
Dark, deep and compact nose: sense of cream, maybe even some vanilla. The characteristic wildness is here, a sense of scrub too but nothing too acetic and certainly nothing notably oxidative. Feels like it needs a decant (or worth trying again in a couple of days).
Full-bodied, there is a greater sense of wildness here, the ‘farmhouse cider-richness’, notes of old cellars and a little raisin (so some oxidative notes), but overall pretty fruity and a good fresh vein with it. Lively, juicy and creamy in parts, the tannins are ripe and well-integrated, grainy in texture and a touch of grip. Long, smoky (?), liquorice and exotic wood on the finish.
I appreciate it, I don’t find this release odd or anything, but it needs to open out and it is ‘darker’ than I recall as per other comments.
Would love to try this with a proper decant and some food, when i'm sure i'd upscore it by a point or two.
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2/22/2021 - chbeaumont wrote: 91 Points
Unusually deep for Musar: blood red core, crimson rim; rich bouquet, polished(!), black fruit, tell-tale Musar-esque hickory wood smoke; plush fruit overlays supple tannins, refreshing acidity; latent power, fulsome finish, very long. Approachable now, but no reason this won't age well.
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