first time w a Musar. From a local Lebanese restaurant that has a deep vertical. Fresh and deep with bright cherry and red fruit, very high toned. Really lovely wine. Very nuanced. The acidity and round tannins will keep it going for a decade more.
I love this wine and have found 1999 to be a particularly good vintage. Can be a little on the funky/earthy side but in a way I really enjoy. Seems to benefit from decanting or gentle handling so the sediments donāt get disturbed. And has a beautiful color that seems to indicate not yet at full maturity
My favorite vintage of Musar, by a lot.*
*I only know the 1997-2006 vintages.
Favorite vintage of my favorite producer. When you get a good bottle (thereās a lot of variation), itās absolute magic. Definitely decant!
First rule of Musar, donāt talk about it lol. Love ā99 and it does benefit from a solid few hours of decanting.
One of my favorite vintages* of Musar as well.
- I know all the 1993-2014 vintages and most since 1979
Although I must point out that 1997-1999 is a magical trio of outstanding vintages. 1999 is most reliably excellent, but when 1997 and 1998 have their thing going on, the can reach at the very least the same level of quality.
I have a couple of magnums of the 97, I wonder when those should be opened? Itās been a while, but I recall the 97 Musar was really wild even by their standards.
The last bottle I had in late 2019 was remarkably clean and youthful, showing surprisingly little age, no obvious funk nor VA. And it was a 0,75 bottle, not a mag. So based on this data point, not in a long time!
However, Iāve seen a lot of bottle variation with this vintage. Some have been somewhat evolved and even slightly aldehydic, some have shown some VA but not obvious brett, and one coming across as quite mature with pruney and raisiny fruit and softer acidity than any other bottle of the same vintage. But all in all, this vintage has shown surprisingly little brett compared to most vintages and some bottles havenāt shown much if any VA either. So in that sense, I wouldnāt call it particularly wild, even by non-Musar standards.
A good bottle might be a bit reductive upon opening, so it definitely benefits from an hour or two of aeration.
Nice. Great producer.
Cheers,
Doug
Thatās a really good vintage of Musar, and itās probably just into early maturity now.
1995 was the superstar from around that period, though I havenāt had one in quite a few years now. And 1991 too. But I feel like vintages in the 2000s Iāve been sampling have all been good too.
Mine as well
99 for me has been consistently excellent.
97 not so much, unfortunately. Lotta variation.
93 and 95 were my fav of the decade. Wish I had more!
Try as I may, I just donāt āgetā the whites.
Weāve had incredible luck with the late 90ās Musars as well as the early 2000s too. Just all beautiful expressions that I almost feel like Iām jinxing myself by talking about it for next timeā¦
Anyone had many aged versions of the whites?
All vintages between 1990-2010 except for 1993, 1994, 1996, 2002 and 2008.
1992 has been consistently one of the best whites Iāve tasted, but 1990, 1991 and 1997 have been nothing short of excellent either.
Just a general observation: I donāt find Musar especially funky.
Maybe Iāve been lucky. Maybe Iām especially funk tolerant.
But itās not a thing for me with Musar.
For me, the challenge with Musar is the VA. Iāve had a few (just a few) Musars with undrinkably high VA. But even when not an deal breaker, I usually get some obvious VA here. A little VA can add interest for the right palate, but itās definitely a variable to factor in.
fwiw, my experience is similar to Patrickās. The funk Iāve seen has always been within tolerance, and most blows off with aeration. But what doesnāt get blown off, I find to be part of the charm/magic/place/time alchemy.
The few times Iāve experienced VA, that too has been remedied with simple aeration.
If itās luck, Iāll take it!