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	Bts	Qty
		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	30
	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.
	1997	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$74.99	1
	MB [****] (5/2002): First tasted with Serge Hochar in the Chateau Musar cellars, December 1999. The wine was still in individual vats: Cinsault from the garrigues of Kefraya in the Bekaa Valley: crisp, fragrant; attractive, some elegance. Carignan from Ana, a little further north: more flesh, nice fruit, very tannic. Cabernet Sauvignon was an incredibly deep colour; green, stalky nose; austere, aastringent. It would be another year before blending. Most recently, seemed fully developed, good flavour, lovely aftertaste.
	2000	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend (1.5 L)	$129.99	12
	WA 89 (2/2010): The 2000 Chateau Musar is tight, bright and tannic, astringent on the finish, rustic and earthy, well laced with barnyard notes. Some will hate it. This, I think, will be the most divisive of the Musar reds reviewed this issue. It is a more or less an equal blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Carignan, aged for one year in French oak and late released only in 2007. The crisp character makes it refreshing and delivers lingering flavors to the palate on the finish, but it also means there is not a lot of fleshiness here, the texture is not particularly caressing and it has a certain austerity that some will appreciate -- and many won’t. Yet, it evolved beautifully in the glass and I greatly admired its structure, which should guarantee its ability to age gracefully for a long while in the cellar. If you like the acidity and power, which may cause some to dismiss this as simply too rustic, the barnyard component will be where many people still get off the bus. I liked it more and more as it aired out and came together in the glass, although my love for it never quite equaled my admiration for its good intentions. I suspect many will not warm up to it, so this is certainly one of those times that the score here is a lot less important than the tasting note. Its ageworthiness gives me some optimism that it will come together with more time in the cellar, but it won’t shock me if it does not. It was entrancing at times and it certainly has an upside that few wines in this region have. Five years might do it a lot of good, but let’s be conservative at the moment. Others will be a lot happier with the ’02 Hochar or the ’01 Musar reviewed this issue. Drink now-2025.
	2000	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend ETA June 2018	$62.99	12
	WA 89 (2/2010): The 2000 Chateau Musar is tight, bright and tannic, astringent on the finish, rustic and earthy, well laced with barnyard notes. Some will hate it. This, I think, will be the most divisive of the Musar reds reviewed this issue. It is a more or less an equal blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Carignan, aged for one year in French oak and late released only in 2007. The crisp character makes it refreshing and delivers lingering flavors to the palate on the finish, but it also means there is not a lot of fleshiness here, the texture is not particularly caressing and it has a certain austerity that some will appreciate -- and many won’t. Yet, it evolved beautifully in the glass and I greatly admired its structure, which should guarantee its ability to age gracefully for a long while in the cellar. If you like the acidity and power, which may cause some to dismiss this as simply too rustic, the barnyard component will be where many people still get off the bus. I liked it more and more as it aired out and came together in the glass, although my love for it never quite equaled my admiration for its good intentions. I suspect many will not warm up to it, so this is certainly one of those times that the score here is a lot less important than the tasting note. Its ageworthiness gives me some optimism that it will come together with more time in the cellar, but it won’t shock me if it does not. It was entrancing at times and it certainly has an upside that few wines in this region have. Five years might do it a lot of good, but let’s be conservative at the moment. Others will be a lot happier with the ’02 Hochar or the ’01 Musar reviewed this issue. Drink now-2025.
	2002	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$49.99	8
	WS 89 (2/2011): A supple, beefy red, with a spicy snap to the mature flavors of dried berry. The minerally finish features toffee notes. Cinsault, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Grenache. Drink now. 1,700 cases imported.
	2006	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$41.99	3
	2001	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$52.99		Sold Out
	2003	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$47.99		Sold Out
	2004	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$41.99		Sold Out
	2007	Bekaa Valley Proprietary Blend	$41.99		Sold Out