Chateau Musar 1977-2007

Singular and unparalleled, the wines of Chateau Musar are perhaps the most divisive in the wine world. A banner for perseverance and dedication, Chateau Musar was founded by Gaston Hochar in 1930 in Ghazir, Lebanon. His son, Serge, took over the winery in 1959 and became one of the most iconic figures in the wine world, espousing his surprisingly philosophical approach to winemaking and propelling Musar to cult-like status. Sadly, Serge has passed away, but the estate has been left in the capable hands of his sons, Gaston and Marc. Chateau Musar is renowned for creating wines of distinction and uniqueness - each vintage is decidedly individual and it's not uncommon for bottles from the same vintage to have different fill levels. The grapes used in their flagship red are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Carignan. The wines are fermented in separate cement vats and then aged in French barriques for 12 months. After this ageing period, the final blend is determined, according to the strengths and characteristics of each vintage. While the style can vary year to year, Musar wines are perhaps best known for their inclusion of volatile acidity and brett, which gives the wine their distinct (and controversial) "funk". Musar is also renowned for the incredible longevity of their wines, ageing in a captivating journey over decades - in the words of Serge Hochar, "If you give my wines more time, they will give you more joy." Complex, earthy and above all fascinating, these are truly extraordinary wines, and we are thrilled to be able to offer such an extensive collection.

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Producer	Vint.	Wine	Price	Qty	Order
		Lebanon
Ch. Musar	1977	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$375	15
	MB [****] (4/2000): I have three notes: sweet, assertive, still tannic at Decanter's millennium dinner at Vinopolis, London, July 1999. The next at Chateau Musar that December: singed flavour, long tannic finish. Most recently, sweet, rich, fairly full-bodied despite its misleading pale colour. Last tasted pre-sale at Christie's.   WA 88 (6/2013): The 1977 Chateau Musar opens in quite a lovely way, leaning far to the charm side of the equation. It is a kinder, gentler vision of Musar. Yet, keep in mind as a context that it is already 35+ years old. With fresh fruit and a sweet tinge on the finish, it is beautifully constructed and well balanced. As with a lot of Musar, there is some bretty nuance, some crispness and some tannin. This is quite charming early on, though, a Musar that is easy to love, with relatively well integrated tannins and fresh, young fruit still. My enthusiasm dimmed a bit when it did not evolve particularly well in the glass, fading slightly with time and becoming dominated merely by crisp, bretty notes. I went from loving this to feeling so-so. Call it a compromise score. It is still pretty nice. Drink now-2020.
	1979	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$325	11
	JS 95 (6/2016): While I still find Château Musar often inconsistent in quality, it remains arguably Lebanon’s greatest winery. The estate was founded in the 1930s by Gaston Hochar, who was succeeded by his son, Serge. The 1979 vintage was one of the first made by Serge, who sadly died earlier this year. I drunk this bottle in Hong Kong only last year, and it was a silky and pretty with dried berries and hints of cedar and flowers. The palate was medium-bodied with fine, silky tannins and a juicy finish. Fresh tobacco and wet soil. Drink now.   JG 90 (3/2017): The 1979 vintage of Musar is fully mature and more tertiary in profile than the fine 1978, but this is a classic example of the wine that remains at its apogee and has plenty of life still in it. The bouquet offers up a lovely blend of raspberries, coffee, a bit of bonfire, garrigue, hints of fresh herbs and a bit of meatiness. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and still has lovely depth at the core, with a fully-resolved, soft palate impression, but still fine focus and balance on the long, velvety finish. As this is further along its evolutionary arc than the 1978, there is not the same backend grip here as in the earlier vintage, but this is a lovely, complex wine that is still drinking with plenty of style and grace. 2014-2025+.   MB [****] (4/2000): Once again, it was misleadingly pale, fully mature; nose like squashed strawberries; sweet, long, delicious. Last tasted pre-sale at Christie's.
	1981	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$300	8
	MB [****] (4/2000): The first note made at Chateau Musar in December 1999. Lovely colour; sweet, ripe, rather rustic bouquet; full, rich, good fruit, grip. Should be delicious now.   WA 91 (6/2013): The 1981 Chateau Musar is simply wonderful, a prime time wine aging brilliantly. Beautifully structured, this has silky texture, a crisp finish and good balance, notwithstanding the serious power lurking on the finish. It seems fresh, vibrant and youthful, a great food wine, not particularly fleshy, fruity or sweet, but quite lively. It was tasted twice from different bottles (with and without Hochar) and it was fascinating each time. As with many Musars, the score matters less than the style. There are certainly things going on here that will draw divided opinions. By many modern standards, the acidity level is perceptibly high. There is a bretty aspect that will certainly turn off others. Yet, this preens in its power, its complexity and its invigorating freshness. I rather loved it and it seemed quite brilliant. Drink now-2030.
	1983	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$275	17
	JG 88 (3/2017): The 1983 Château Musar has a touch of volatile acidity, which is not surprising or particularly alarming to my palate (low levels of VA generally do not bother me all that much), and this dissipates a bit with time in the decanter, allowing most of it to blow off. Once blossomed, the wine is quite pretty and fully mature, offering up scents of fruit cake, coffee, hung game, Christmas Tree spice, leafy autumnal notes, a good base of soil and a gently balsamic topnote. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, deep and complex, with still a bit of backend volatility in evidence, melted tannins and lovely length and grip on the focused and complex finish. This too seems to be inching towards the far side of its plateau of peak maturity and is probably going to slide into gentle decline in the not too distant future, so I might be inclined to drink up this vintage of Musar over the near-term. 2015-2025?   MB [****] (12/1999): Good colour; warm, harmonious nose and palate. Very sweet, very agreeable.
	1985	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend Base Neck Fill	$225	4
	MB [**] (12/1999): First noted after bottling in June 1987; mostly Cinsault, picked early, long fermentation and no wood used. Lean and lively, with good acidity. Then 12 years later its nose reminded me of a ripe Ch. Brane-Cantenac. Very tannic. Raw. Not sure about this wine.
	1985	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend Very Top Shoulder Fill	$225	2
	MB [**] (12/1999): First noted after bottling in June 1987; mostly Cinsault, picked early, long fermentation and no wood used. Lean and lively, with good acidity. Then 12 years later its nose reminded me of a ripe Ch. Brane-Cantenac. Very tannic. Raw. Not sure about this wine.
	1986	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$215	5
	JG 87+ (3/2017): The 1986 vintage of Château Musar has been fully mature for decades, but is still a pretty good drink, as it gently starts to peer over the far side of its plateau of maturity. The bouquet offers up a tertiary blend of desiccated cherries and red berries, coffee, hung game, damp soil tones and a touch of mocha in the upper register, which may well be a sign of the oxidation to come in the not too distant future. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and still has good depth of gently jammy fruit at the core, with a bit of remaining tannin, good focus and balance and sound length on the fully mature finish. This still has pretty good structural chassis on the palate, but the dollop of mocha appearing in the aromatics makes me wonder if the fruit is going to fade before the tannins fully fall away. It is not a great vintage of Musar, but a good, solid one that has aged well, but may be at the crossroads. On the other hand, there may be bottles out there with more vigorous fruit components to match the structure of this bottle. 2014-2030+?   MB [***[*]] (4/2000): Two close notes: orange-tinged; sweet, chocolatey nose that opened up richly; full, ripe, Pomerol style, with quite a bite.
	1987	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$199	2
	WS 85 (9/1994): This wine shows the expressive, mature tea and vanilla aromas of an aged Rioja. On the palate, it's smooth and supple, with ripe fruit and earthy notes. Elegant and easy to drink. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cinsault. Drink now. 15,000 cases made.
	1991	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend Top Shoulder Fill; Bin-Soiled Label	$139	5
	JG 87-93 (3/2017): The 1991 vintage of Château Musar is a bit more volatile than many others, which may cause some tasters a bit of concern, but there is a lot of depth and complexity here underneath the veneer of volatile acidity. The bouquet is quite Châteauneuf du Pape-like at this stage of its evolution, offering up a fine blend of grilled meats, jammy raspberry fruit, pepper, garrigue, green olives and a fine base of soil tones. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and very nicely focused, with a good core, just a touch of remaining tannin and lovely length and grip on the vigorous finish. With this vintage of Musar, one’s tolerance to VA is really going to decide one’s impressions, as this is a very solid 92 to 93 point wine if the VA does not particularly bother you, but deduct six or seven points if volatile acidity is hard for you to tolerate. I am sure some folks would have difficulties with the volatile acidity here, but I absolutely loved it. 2015-2030.   WS 84 (7/2000): Quite mature, with tea, earth, coffee and caramel notes that are clean and lively, if not dense. Flavors linger on the finish without drying out. Hanging in there. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Carignane. Drink now.
	1996	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend (375 ML)	$69.99	24
	MB [*] (5/2002): Wet year, light vintage. First tasted at Chateau Musar, December 1999. Youthful, weak-rimmed; pleasant, stylish, dry finish. Most recently, distinctly weak, an almost gravy-like nose, soft finish.
	2001	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend ETA Fall 2018	$52.99	36
	JG 94+ (3/2017): The 2001 Château Musar has long had a reputation as one of the greatest recent vintages from this property, so I was delighted when Marc Hochar included it in the more youthful examples of the wine for me to taste in preparation for this article. At age fifteen the 2001 has now reached a lovely point in its evolution for current drinking, as it delivers a fine bouquet of raspberries, cherries, spices meats, a fine base of stony soil tones, cigar wrapper, a bit of pepper, garrigue and a touch of cedar. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, complex and shows beautiful mid-palate depth, with impeccable balance, fine focus and grip, melting tannins and outstanding complexity on the long and utterly classic finish. I drank a fair bit of Château Musar from the decade of the 1970s in my formative years in the wine trade, and this 2001 reminds me very strongly of what the beautiful 1978 and 1979 drank like back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. This is a classic Musar! 2017-2055.   WA 91 (2/2010): The 2001 Chateau Musar, bottled in 2004, is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Carignan, aged for one year in French oak. Nuanced by cherries and spice, it is quite delicious. Which wine you like better of this lineup? the 01 or 00, or even the 02 Hochar, is a matter of taste, perhaps, more than any inherent quality issue, as the styles are rather different. The '00 is the powerhouse bruiser, the most rustic, while the Hochar is the approachable, easier wine. This is the one in the middle, arguably the best balance of fruit and power. On the downside, this is as gamey and funky as the 2000, but the balance is different, the wine seeming fruitier and fleshier, not quite as austere. Depending on your taste, you may find that a good thing, or prefer the more powerful and intellectual 2000. This is still powerful, I hasten to add, with drying notes on the finish, but the fruitiness melds beautifully with the barnyard notes, and it is nicely supported by the tannin rather than overwhelmed. As with the 2000, this should age well, although the 2000 should age longer, and this will be a wine some will love, and some will find has too much barnyard. Personally, I enjoyed it a lot, and was just imagining how it would work with venison. Drink now-2020.   WS 89 (12/2010): Delicate, mature aromas and flavors of dried cherry, currant, plum and berry make for a sumptuous and supple red. The long finish is filled with clove and ginger, with hints of cola. Equal parts Cinsault, Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now. 2,000 cases imported.
	1997	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$74.99		Sold Out
	2000	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend (1.5 L)	$129.99		Sold Out
	2000	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$62.99		Sold Out
	2002	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$49.99		Sold Out
	2003	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$47.99		Sold Out
	2004	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$41.99		Sold Out
	2006	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$41.99		Sold Out
	2007	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$41.99		Sold Out