The Auswine Forum

G’day

Chateau Musar was established over 90 years ago, with grapes grown in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon. The Hochar family continues to own and manage the winery and 220Ha of vineyards. While there are similarities or influences from Bordeaux, the wines are made in their own style, and this has been consistent over the last couple of decades at least.

There’s a range of wines in the Musar stable, including some ‘jaune’ wines from younger grapes, a Musar white, and a Hochar Pere et Fils which differs in grape composition and style from the Musar red flagship. As an introduction to this tasting, we looked at the white and the Hochar red, before moving to the vertical tasting.

Chateau Musar White 2017: 60% Obaideh and 40% Merwah (grapes indigenous to Lebanon). Deep yellow in colour and appears to have been made deliberately in a somewhat oxidative style. The nose shows stone fruits, peach, toffee, bergamot and orange peel, along with some beeswax and honey. The palate is slightly tart, textural and nutty, with more peach, stone fruit, honey and beeswax. It has good palate weight and was described as mellow by one taster. Most people found the slightly oxidative nature appealing.

Hochar Pere et Fils red 2018: Cinsault 50%, Grenache 40%, Cabernet Sauvignon 10%. Purple red in colour. A vibrant jubey nose, with raspberry, cherry and black pepper. The palate is juicy (reminiscent of a young Cote du Rhone), with sour cherry, musk stick, and white pepper. Tannins are moderately grippy and chalky, and there’s plenty of acid. Medium length and considered to be an ‘easy drinking’ wines (certainly in the context of the wines to follow).

We then moved to 14 vintages of Chateau Musar Red. The wine consists of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault, and Carignan, and since 2012 at least, these have been in equal parts (1/3 each). We tasted from youngest to oldest, and this included an unbroken run of 10 vintages from 2012 to 2003. Colour change was very moderate over nearly 20 decades. In many of the wines there were signs of VA, and even some brett – tasters have different sensitivity to these, and also different opinions on their contributions to the wines.

Chateau Musar Red 2016: Crimson in colour, and translucent. Slight VA lift and a hint of brett. The nose shows blackberry, leather, kirsch, menthol, dried herbs and brambles. The palate has a high acid backbone, and moderately grippy tannins. There’s dark and red fruits, and Chesterfield sofa. Long finish.

Chateau Musar Red 2015: Similar colour to the 2015. Prominent nose of dark and red fruits, a touch of leather, but fortuitously little sign of VA and no brett. The palate has slightly softer acid and tannins to the 2016, and overall is more integrated. Slightly tart red fruits, blackberries, and a little coffee / choc led to a medium -long finish. Well regarded by the group.

Chateau Musar Red 2012: From a hot vintage. Slight touch of VA on the nose. Lots of liquorice and dark fruits, liquorice allsorts, tobacco – and some noticeable brett. There’s fruit sweetness bordering on raisin on the palate, which is juicy with red and fark fruits, medium-high acid and grippy tannins. A long finish. However, the group questioned whether this vintage would share the famed longevity of Chateau Musar reds generally.

Chateau Musar Red 2011: The nose displays tobacco and violets alongside the more usual red and dark fruits. There’s also a touch of barnyard. The palate is mouthfilling, with the fruit flavours starting to show development. There’s also some oak-derived choc / mocha, good supporting acid and grippy tannins. Long finish.

Chateau Musar Red 2010: Ruby in colour. Slight VA and brett and the fruit (to my palate at least) has been stripped somewhat (so the wine is possibly corked as well!). There’s cherry bordering on raisined, some choc, dried herbs and smokiness. The palate has tart red fruits, high acid, and baking spice.

Chateau Musar Red 2009: Slight VA lift. Developed red and blue fruits, some cola and dried herbs on the nose. There’s black juicy fruits on the palate, with medium-high tannins and integrated tannins. Some graphite as well as black tea. A soft but full finish.

Chateau Musar Red 2008: Ruby with slight bricking. A full nose, with lots of soft fruits, mocha / choc, a little tobacco and sarsaparilla. The palate is similarly soft and integrated, with round, full fruits. Its balanced and has a very long finish. Well regarded by the group. Chateau Musar Red 2007: Similar in colour to the 2008. Noticeable brett. Fruit is diminished, and there’s balsamic vinegar and soy on the nose. There’s developed red fruits on the palate, which are slightly tart and tangy. Tannins are dominant, with cold tea. I’m not sure if the wine is suffering faults or just showing disproportionate age.

Chateau Musar Red 2006: There’s a hint of menthol on what is a fill nose, almost leaping out of the glass. Fruits are developed and there’s dried herbs and bramble. The palate shows savoury characters over the fruit, noticeable acid, mocha, milk choc and integrated tannins. It finishes full and long. We considered its potential longevity (alright, it’s already 15 years old!) and this could plateau easily for another few years.

Chateau Musar Red 2005: Some similarities to the 2006, with a full nose of fruit compote, herbs, bramble and slight VA. The palate was also similar to the 2006, but more concentrated, with orange peel and pith, tannic grip, raisined fruits (receding slightly) and excellent structure. Well regarded by the group.

Chateau Musar Red 2004: Tea leaves, furniture polish, green melon and fresh herbs on the nose. Tangy red fruits and marzipan on the palate, with the fruit showing raisining, and overall integration. Perhaps starting to hollow out a little.

Chateau Musar Red 2003: Obvious brett on the nose, with smoke, charcuterie, petroleum and vegemite. The palate was mousy, with stripped red fruits and strong tannins. I considered it to be faulty to the point of undrinkable, but most of the others disagreed with me.

Chateau Musar Red 2000: Garnet in colour. Fully developed red fruits, herbs and mocha on the nose. The palate is fully integrated, with soft acid, silky tannins, iron/blood, and dried fruits. Very long finish, pretty much a ‘complete’ wine and well regarded by the group.

Chateau Musar Red 1998: Juicy red fruits, smoked meats, tar and “Russian Caravan” tea on the nose. There’s more tar on the palate with tart red fruits and soft tannins. Long finish, which one taster considered was “like an old Barolo”. Well regarded by the group. Given the noted longevity of Chateau Musar reds, we considered the question of the preferred drinking window, but could not agree. Personal preference comes into this, of course, and some of us considered that there might be more than one drinking window. One’s tolerance to brett and VA (and, to a lesser degree cork taint) also came under scrutiny.

Wine of the night was Chateau Musar 2008, with the 2015, 2005 and 2000 all well supported. Thanks to those who joined us for a memorable tasting, and especially to Craig and David for contributing wines. Special thanks to Mark and Jodie at Lulu's Little Bistro - thoroughly recommended for this sort of event, or for dining generally.

Cheers
Allan

Lovely to see these notes - many thanks for writing and sharing them.

Musar is on of the earliest wines on my wine drinking journey, with ~ 1987/8 being my first encounter, and it was also the first wine I ever laid down for later drinking. A friendship was made when I walked into a local Norwich wine shop and asked if they had "A lebanese wine called Chateau Musar". The owner Tym replied "yes, which vintage would you like?". That indirectly led to our tasting group being formed, which ended up as a long term social grouping. One time we had the Musar Pere et Fils in the lineup, and it shone brightest of the wines we had that night. Fast forward a mere week later, I'm at a big walkround tasting and they put a mystery wine on. A bit too funky for Bdx, so I plumped for Southern Rhone. It was the Hochar Pere et Fils again, and my blind tasting ability cruelly exposed

We also get a couple of bottlings that I suspect might not be widely available. Aana is we believe merely a rebadging of the Hochar P&F for a supermarket, whilst another has a Levantine bottling which IIRC was both a different grape mix and an earlier release. I also recall a 'Mosaic' many years ago, but *think* that changed its name to the Jeune. Also a couple of Rosés one under the main Musar label, and another under the Jeune label (I think).

Here's a note on the 2013 Rosé. I haven't tried another since - as it felt like a Ch Musar wine that would be too weird even for me.

• 2013 Chateau Musar Rosé - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley (20/08/2018)
  Nowhere near as weird as the previous bottle, yet this is still a very challenging style.
  
  Paleish orange-salmon pink colour and quite restrained but savoury on the nose, the fruit being more like pear-skin & lychee backed by faint dirt and rose. All very subtle.
  
  More imposing on the palate, with good body, and acidity, yet again as much savoury as fruit, with rose and watermelon backed by faint smoke and varnish.
  
  A massive improvement on the previous bottle, but this remains in the realm of 'acquired taste', though I suspect with the right food it could really shine.
  
  Let's just call it 'Normal for Musar'
  [img]https://cdn.ct-static.com/labels/4c4bf0b4-19 ... bf811d.jpg[/img]

I do like the white, but like traditional white Rioja (and some traditional Portuguese whites) it really does shine with, and almost demands food. It's also a wonderful wine to age, and IIRC Serge Hochar used to consider it aged better than the red. The beeswax / texture / oxidative / nutty you mentioned give a super lead to how this can be quite an imposing, but not quite confrontational wine.

Thankyou for the Cote du Rhone comparison on the Hochar - I don't feel quite so embarrassed now Definitely a lighter wine than the Ch Musar, but it can age ok (up to a decade, maybe more, I'd say). Checking CT, it says I still have a bottle of the 2012 left, so I really ought to dig it out (and that might assist the question about the Ch Musar 2012 - the Hochar often a good indicator for the main red).

CT also shows that the 2008 is my youngest vintage of the main red, a factor of long time cheap prices here eventually rising. I still reckon it's fair-good value, but with some already in the cellar, there was less pressure to pay the higher prices.

If there's one minor gripe, it's that they seem a bit cleaner than the wines of old. VA especially, but also brett seemed commonplace, but the wine robust enough to take them on board as 'complexity or character'.

As a side note, did you decant them? There's a school of thought that believes these wines improve with, even sometimes demand, a good sit in the decanter between opening and drinking e.g.4+ hours. Having a good vertical like this can also be a good test of that theory, if people return at the end to retaste earlier wines.

Anyway, thanks again!

Thanks for the comprehensive reply, Ian. You've touched on some important points I left out of the (slightly rushed) write-up.

1. Decanting. Yes, indeed. All of the wines were double decanted at least 4 hours before service, and put back in the cellar before transporting to the restaurant. This included the white and the Hochar.
2. Food wines. Many comments were made to this effect over the evening, and I agree that the wines showed better with food (which we happily induged in over the course of the evening, so we could test this out).
3. Pricing. The white and the red both retail now for $120 AUD. One of the contributors used to work for Waitrose in the UK, and not surprisingly, the prices in the UK were comparatively considerably lower.

Following this tasting, I still have a few of the younger vintages (2012 forward) as well as a 2000. It will be interesting to see these in coming years (and any others I may acquire), and I hope the brett content especially reduces in more recent years. Acquired taste is one thing - winemaking faults are another, and we all have different tolerances for these.

Cheers
Allan

Thanks for the write up Allan. I’ll have another read and digest it in full over a few days. I’ve a strong affinity with Musar. Started during the second Gulf War when I’d fly to Beirut monthly. Musar 1990 was available at Beirut Duty Free for $15 USD. I drank it every week for a year! Funnily enough, a Master of Wine was taken back at a blind tasting event when I picked Musar then 1990 as the wine about 20 years later! Can still taste this wine and I guess that’s palate memory the wine scribes talk of when bellowing of great wines they’ve tasted. This was a distinctly personal wine for me- in part due the tragic backdrop of Lebanon. A beautiful country destroyed by the same curse of today. Visiting the Bekaa was considered risky and now it’s not possible at all.

I drank with Serge Hochar on a number of occasions. Our events put together by my wine group brought him to tears. We drank back to the 50’s- an emotional Serge saying that when sitting in his cellar, drinking his wine, as artillery explosions concussed and shook the foundations, he’d never have believed he would have such a warm occasion a world away years later. It was at these events I learned of his whites- Benjamin Button wines- they got younger as they got older. Serge died in a swimming accident a few months later in Mexico.

Testament of my love of these wines I have 30 in the cellar split evenly amongst red and white. All over 20 years old and no hurry to drink. They took up my limited capacity to import wines to Australia, where I’d bring in the world’s great wines at a bargain price and not available locally. Yet Musar at the $20 to $30 price tag was a priority.

Musar is one wine I wouldn’t drink with Australians. Well maybe if they of Levant ancestry. Too many local palates are over technical and have little understanding and patience with the idiosyncrasies of the Musar. They actually are very robust with the cuisine of the area whereas internationally distinct wines will be blown out the water. I see this in Israel where they make some awesome wine mirroring the world’s great styles yet they don’t last beyond a course in Jerusalem.

I have every confidence in drinking my Musar at 50 years. The wines have a meaningful, sentimental and a rich story to tell of the tragedy of Lebanon.

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Absolutely Sean!

Musar is it’s best for me when technical rating would consider the wines well past it. It delivers impurities in nuance that can be bewildering and its durability with all food dishes including local Mediterranean fish bakes. If you have ever tried to get a wine in the region I think there’s a patience well deserved with Musar.

A colleague I work with grew up in the same area as the Musar winery which is north of Beirut near the pretty bay of Jounieh. The vineyards are actually in the Beqaa Valley on the Syrian border east. He was telling me stories of the Lebanese Civil War and walking ( running to school ) and snipers would shoot dogs and cats nearby to put the fear of God into you. What he saw was not for the faint hearted as is any sectarian civil war. Serge refused to stop making wine and it almost cost him. 76 and 84 would have been blood vintages and they were not made. 82 was incidentally and that’s when the skies of the Beqaa lit up with swirling dogfights and occupying Syrian forces and their Russian equipment, devastingly routed by Israel, in what was a blue print for the defeat of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies.

It never stops. The war. In the 2006 for example, Israel in retaliation for Hezbollah rocket and artillery attacks, devastated infrastructure including the vital connections from the Beqaa to the Coast. It was this vintage ( and others ) where horse and cart delivered grapes to the winery.

Today Lebanon is a failed proxy state run by thugs. Musar still makes wine. The vineyards lay in the path of Iran and Hezbollah supply routes from Syria. Surviving! As vulnerable as ever.

Thanks for the notes and pictures Allan.

I concur with Ian regarding Serge Hochar saying that the whites age better than the reds though I have no experience with aged whites. One thing I can say regarding the reds is that they do age very well and because they need a good deal of airing there is usually no need to fear a low ullage in old bottles. A 1970 bottle some years ago was glorious despite the wine being almost below the shoulder. Despite the low ullage the host decanted the wine before dinner!

Reflecting on Ian's comments my first experience with Musar was with the 1977 vintage and soon after that participated in a vertical tasting at which the 1966 was the star. Heathrow duty free was the last time I bought Musar, finding the 2002, 2003 and 2004 for 15 and 18 pounds each.

Cheers .................. Mahmoud.