Château Musar, Grand Vin
Bekaa Valley, Lebanon 2013 (750mL)
Regular price$60.00
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Château Musar, Grand Vin
Aside from an initial release in London two months ago, you are among the first to lay eyes on Château Musar’s newest release, and I say ‘new’ lightly because this iconic red has spent nearly seven years hiding away in their cellar. It’s a long, meticulous, cost-prohibitive journey that few producers around the world are willing to undertake, but this is the working philosophy here at Château Musar, an enchanting, far-flung estate deep in the heart of Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
For decades, Musar has been internationally recognized, celebrated by the finest publications, and awarded wine’s most prestigious titles. Their continued brilliance in the cellar and ability to dazzle consumers across the globe has resulted in today’s just-released 2013 red, an exotically built Cabernet/Cinsault/Carignan that so vividly illustrates why they’ve become an alluring cult label for the ages. Of course, the world has become increasingly aware of the magic radiating from this historic Lebanese estate. All over, you’ll find Michelin-starred restaurants, sommeliers, and collectors hoarding verticals dating back decades. Who can blame them? Each release possesses the best traits of Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the Southern Rhône, all while remaining distinctly unique. There’s no sense in rewriting what we said for the last offering, so here it is: Whenever there’s an opportunity to buy Château Musar’s affordable masterpieces, hesitating is not recommended. Enjoy now, and if cellared properly, over the next 30+ years.
[NOTE: In celebration of their 90th anniversary, the estate has released a book illustrating their incredible history that can be purchased here.]
For decades, Musar has been internationally recognized, celebrated by the finest publications, and awarded wine’s most prestigious titles. Their continued brilliance in the cellar and ability to dazzle consumers across the globe has resulted in today’s just-released 2013 red, an exotically built Cabernet/Cinsault/Carignan that so vividly illustrates why they’ve become an alluring cult label for the ages. Of course, the world has become increasingly aware of the magic radiating from this historic Lebanese estate. All over, you’ll find Michelin-starred restaurants, sommeliers, and collectors hoarding verticals dating back decades. Who can blame them? Each release possesses the best traits of Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the Southern Rhône, all while remaining distinctly unique. There’s no sense in rewriting what we said for the last offering, so here it is: Whenever there’s an opportunity to buy Château Musar’s affordable masterpieces, hesitating is not recommended. Enjoy now, and if cellared properly, over the next 30+ years.
[NOTE: In celebration of their 90th anniversary, the estate has released a book illustrating their incredible history that can be purchased here.]
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. Upon Serge’s passing in 2014, his two sons, along with Serge’s brother Ronald (who was with him every step of the way) and his own son have been running the operations.
Serge 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.”
Today’s 2013 is their classic equal 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 long, variety-separate, natural fermentation—according to the Hochars, it was the slowest ever—in concrete vessels before being transferred into French oak barrels for one year. The individual varietal wines were then blended together and sent into concrete yet again before bottling unfined and unfiltered in the Summer of 2016. It then stayed in their cellar, maturing quietly, for nearly four additional years. It’s a classic, if not extreme, example of Hochar’s willingness to effectively age the wine before selling it to you.
“Elegance” was the single word the Hochar family used for the 2013 vintage and after seven years of evolution, it really shows. Granted, these wines are never about excess power and brawn—they’re typically bursting with finesse and majesty after introduced to air. And air is certainly the key to this release: I recommend decanting slowly and allowing at least two hours to pass before serving into a large Bordeaux stem. Then, and then only, should you dip your nose in to discover a wild array of exoticism, dried/ripe fruit, and savory earth. What’s immediately apparent with this wine is that it has intense Rhône qualities—plush fruit, garrigue, scorched earth, raspberry coulis, licorice, spice, and a slight sauvage note—that meld perfectly with the firm structure of Cabernet Sauvignon on the palate. It is here where you’ll discover a convergence of soft red, blue, and black fruit powered by whole cloves, tamarind, leather, game, and dried herbs. It’s elegant like the finest Burgundy, savory and complex like Left Bank Bordeaux, and wholly unique like only a Bekaa Valley estate can be. As time passes in the decanter/glass, it’s constantly evolving flavors arouse so much emotion, so do your best not do drain this quickly. You will be rewarded. Enjoy now and over the coming decades—whatever year you pick, your bottle will be patiently waiting in prime form. Cheers!
