Château Musar, Grand Vin
Bekaa Valley, Lebanon 2006 (750mL)
Regular price$65.00
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Château Musar, Grand Vin
Lebanon's Château Musar has dazzled sommeliers and collectors for decades, and today’s dramatically soul-stirring 2006 is a vivid snapshot as to why. Generally, a good seven years pass before Musar unveils their Grand Vin, but 2006 brought an impressively age-worthy red that deserved a longer slumber. So, after four more years of undisturbed aging, the wines were finally released to the public in 2013, but not today’s batch: Musar was so thrilled by the potential of their 2006s that they purposely released them in waves to avoid quick consumption.
Today’s small parcel represents one of those re-releases that finally saw the first light of day just months ago. Thirteen years of cellar aging for one of the world’s most indescribably enchanting experiences—for this price? Simply extraordinary. Of course, the world has become increasingly aware of the magic radiating from this historic Lebanese estate and Musar’s once-massive library has taken a major hit because of it. All around the globe, you’ll find top Michelin-starred restaurants and wealthy collectors hoarding vintages dating back decades. Put simply, it isn’t getting any easier to drink 10+-year-old Musar, so now’s the time. It possesses the best traits of Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Piedmont all while remaining its own distinctly beautiful creature. My advice: Grab six bottles, enjoy one today after a long decant, and open your others over the next two decades.
Today’s small parcel represents one of those re-releases that finally saw the first light of day just months ago. Thirteen years of cellar aging for one of the world’s most indescribably enchanting experiences—for this price? Simply extraordinary. Of course, the world has become increasingly aware of the magic radiating from this historic Lebanese estate and Musar’s once-massive library has taken a major hit because of it. All around the globe, you’ll find top Michelin-starred restaurants and wealthy collectors hoarding vintages dating back decades. Put simply, it isn’t getting any easier to drink 10+-year-old Musar, so now’s the time. It possesses the best traits of Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Piedmont all while remaining its own distinctly beautiful creature. My advice: Grab six bottles, enjoy one today after a long decant, and open your others over the next two decades.
Bordeaux is a useful comparison in that Château Musar’s founder, Gaston Hochar, was of French descent and studied winemaking in Bordeaux. His son, Serge, who died at age 75 in 2014, also studied in Bordeaux, under famed enologist Émile Peynaud. And yes, Musar utilizes a healthy dose of Cabernet Sauvignon to create their ethereal, long-lived reds. But again, Château Musar is really unlike anything else. Grown in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, near its eastern border with Syria, and vinified just outside Beirut, Musar wines aren’t just a good story—what’s in the bottle is for real.
Of course, there was Lebanese wine during ancient times, but 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 war 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 fermentations; minimal use of sulfur), and he was also 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.”
This 2006 is their classic blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault, and Carignan grown in gravelly soils at high elevations. These elevations temper the otherwise arid Mediterranean climate of the Bekaa Valley. Additionally, some of the vines here date back to the 1930s and yields are EXTREMELY low. All this creates a wine with the ultimate marriage of subtle power, complexity, and grace. In the winery, the grapes underwent a months-long, variety-separate, natural fermentation in concrete vessels before being transferred into French oak barrels for one year. The individual varietal wines were then blended together and sent into cement tanks yet again...for another year! The wine was finally bottled, unfined and unfiltered, in 2010 and laid to rest. Today’s batch left their cellars just months ago. It’s a classic, if not extreme, example of Hochar’s willingness to effectively age the wine before selling it to you.
There’s a reason this 2006 Grand Vin spent so long in their cellars before it was deemed ready, so have your decanter in hand when you pull a bottle for consumption. I’ll say it again: Decant this wine! I recommend pulling the cork 4-5 hours and letting the bottle rest in a cool upright position before decanting two hours before service. By that time, its nervy sauvage character will have dissipated, leaving you with a captivating red blend that dazzles with each fresh layer: lush cherries, black raspberry, Damson plums, dried herbs, rose petal, scorched earth, cigar box, vintage leather, licorice, and exotic baking spices. Wow, I love these wines, and when they hit 12+ years of age, they really start revealing breathtaking nuances. The palate is powerful and full-bodied, but would never be mistaken for heavy or dense. There is so much finesse to be had here and it shows on the long, savory, mineral-driven finish. Again, give this air and it will endlessly reward you and all those you invited over to enjoy it. Aged Musar is one of the world’s vinous treasures so I urge you not to miss out. Enjoy!
