To the naked eye, Lebanon's Château Musar wouldn’t strike you as an icon that crafts some of the world’s most soul-stirring, long-lived wines. Nor would you imagine that their dark cellar holds a shockingly deep library of back-vintages, but it’s all certifiably true. This isolated wine utopia has dazzled sommeliers for decades, intrigued the most fastidious collectors, and inspired hordes of journalists to tell their war-torn, awe-inspiring story.
Incredibly, Musar’s name still escapes many, but it certainly didn’t fall on deaf ears when we offered their 1998 red blend several months ago—our direct-from-cellar batch sold out at a breakneck pace! We think your enthusiastic response was indicative of what’s occurring on the grand stage: The masses are becoming increasingly aware of the magic radiating from this historic Lebanese estate and with each passing year, demand balloons to unprecedented levels. Still, Château Musar’s generous pricing and extreme patience of holding back wines (this 2010 is their current release) remains unchanged, and for that we are grateful—wines like this are a dying breed. Today’s fascinating white blend comes from two never-before-heard-of indigenous grapes, of which produce yields that compete for the lowest in the world. Like the Hunger Games, the grapes that do survive are of the highest caliber, and their precious juices age in French barrels before seeing six years of bottle aging in Musar’s historic cellar. It’s unique, exquisitely crafted, relatable to nothing, and yet simultaneously reminiscent of everything. We look at this as a $49 entry fee to one of the most stimulating, wildly rarefied wine rides out there. Enjoy!
[NOTE: This special pre-offer will be arriving at our warehouse the week of October 7th]
While there was certainly Lebanese wine during ancient times, viticulture had been all but abandoned when Gaston Hochar established Musar in 1930. His first good customers were French soldiers (France occupied Lebanon at that time), but the wines didn’t really catch on internationally until the late 1970s when they were “discovered” at a wine fair in the United Kingdom. At this point, it was Gaston’s son, Serge, making the wine. Having spent well over 18 years perfecting their flagship red, the worldwide acclaim that Serge had worked for came with a bittersweet taste: Lebanon was embroiled in a decades-long civil war. Somehow, the Hochars continued to produce wine throughout the gut-wrenching conflict, literally trucking their grapes through battle zones and, occasionally, using their cellar as a bomb shelter. That’s what prompted Decanter to award Serge their inaugural “Man of the Year” title in 1984 and, much later on, a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from a German publication.
Serge Hochar, who originally took over the winemaking in 1959, was widely known and loved in the wine community for his charm and his philosophical bent—given what he went through to make wine, he was entitled to his cryptic pronouncements. He was a ‘natural’ winemaker before that was a thing (organic vine work; native yeast fermentation; minimal use of sulfur), and he also felt inclined to hold wines in his cellar for many years before releasing them. As he once quipped to the British wine writer Andrew Jefford: “The value of our stock is ten times our annual sales.”
The two components of today’s flagship white are the obscure, native grapes of Obaideh and Merwah, the former of which is thought to be a relative of Chardonnay (though still unproven). The estate vineyards sourced for today's white blend are perched at a hair-raising altitude of 4500 feet and are organically farmed. Further, these gnarled bush vines are all on their original rootstock, and as mentioned above, yields are EXTREMELY low—roughly 2-3 times less than Grand Cru Burgundy. In the winery, grapes undergo a months-long, variety-separate, natural fermentation in French barriques. After one year, the varietal wines are blended together and bottled. That, however, is just the beginning: Musar then ages these gems for six years before a public release.
All this creates a wine with the ultimate marriage of subtle power, complexity, and grace. Musar’s whites always hint at perfumes and flavors that dominate classic wine regions, but it is ultimately a uniquely beautiful creature. Anyone who is well-versed with them will tell you that they need to be decanted—several hours’ worth—but we broke into ours after just 30 minutes. Despite our impatience, it was brilliant, round, and vibrant, but revisiting later than night was the real treat. It’s rich not cloying, lifted not angular, textured not overwrought, and it balances all of this while revealing exotic herbs, yellow apples, pineapple, honeycomb, white pear, raw almonds, citrus pith, lemon oil, damp white flowers, lees, and sweet perfumes (although the wine is bone dry). It enters the palate lightly and continues building into a full-bodied, long-lasting finish that is sure to mesmerize, even mystify, all newcomers. When consuming, serve in Burgundy stems after a minimum 60-minute decant (preferably 2-3 hours) and prepare to be blown away by its verve, power, and wild intricacies. Enjoy now and over the next 10+ years...or longer: Musar’s wine library has whites dating back to 1954! This particular fish pairing will have you channeling Lebanese cuisine!
