MUSARATHON - Strictly Rhythm, London (4/13/2012)
A group of 11 Hocharophiles rendezvoused at the office of a cool record label to share 15 Lebanese libations. Served with an excellent shepherd’s pie and carrots. I only took notes on the reds–I’ll see if I can get another taster at the dinner to cross-post notes on the whites and rosé, or copy from the UK Wine-Pages board.
Whites
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1990 Chateau Musar Blanc - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
No notes taken -
1991 Chateau Musar Blanc - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
No notes taken -
1999 Chateau Musar Blanc - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
No notes taken -
2001 Chateau Musar Blanc - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
No notes taken
Reds I
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1966 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
Transparent light orange. Mature nose of soy sauce and cinnamon. Somehow viscous, like an elixir, even as it’s totally weightless. Some volatility. Still has some tangy fruit, sort of a sour apricot. Remarkably persistent finish. I don’t love this wine–I didn’t even want to finish my glass, much to my tablemates’ delight–but I can recognize that it’s a rare bird. Others went gaga, and it was the consensus WOTN. 87 on pleasure, 93 on intellectual interest. -
1977 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
T! C! A! NR (flawed) -
1982 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
Translucent, cloudy brick. Pretty closed nose. Still has a good dose of sour cherry fruit, with some brandyish overtones I associate with Rioja. Slightly syrupy mouthfeel–takes awhile to work its way down your palate. A soapy character detracts. (89 pts.) -
1983 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
TCA: Returning to theaters in 2012 NR (flawed) -
1987 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
Translucent brick. Strong citrus/Grand Marnier character. Sour cherry brandy, with more fruit left than its predecessors in the flight, and good acidity. But marred by some off-putting sourness on the back palate. (89 pts.)
Reds II
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1991 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
Very cloudy, sediment-laden brick color. Cherry pie on the nose, brown sugar and soy on the midpalate before the acidity hits in the back. Fellow tasters said this was the archetypal Musar, but it didn’t particularly stand out for me. (90 pts.) -
1995 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
Yuck! Over-the-top gooey sweet nose. Porty, nausea-inducing cough-medicine aromas prevented me from even taking a sip. -
1999 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
My WOTN. Nose of red berries, primarily currants, and cinnamon. Full in the mouth, with great tangy acidity as a counterpoint to the sweet fruit. Rich but everything in balance. Power rather than finesse here, but it seems I prefer that in Musar. Remarkable QPR. (91 pts.) -
2001 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
Very similar profile to the '99 of sweet red berries and cinnamon. But more of the '95’s sickly syrupiness and less of the '99’s bright acidity leave a less balanced wine. (88 pts.) -
2004 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
Has Musar gone modernist? This wine continues the trend I saw from '99 to '01, offering yet more candied red fruit and yet less counterbalancing acidity. My palate was tiring at this point so I’m not going to score this, but the consensus view at the table was that this was closer to a less distinctive international style than any of its predecessors.
Rosé
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2004 Chateau Musar Rosé - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
No notes taken
This was an extremely educational evening. Musar is a distinctive and wonderful wine. It can exhibit every flaw in the book: we had two corked bottles, most showed some VA, and a handful had some brett lurking in the background. Sometimes that’s a good thing as part of a package; sometimes it most definitely is not. It resembles Burgundy (Vosne I suppose?) in its consistent cherry/currant red fruit, cinnamon/brown sugar/baking spice/soy sauce aromas, high acid, and low tannin. But it’s very full-bodied in its youth, and retains that volume for at least 30 years (the '66 had turned weightless, but the '77, '82, and '83 still had heft). In that sense, it’s more like Sangiovese that’s aged long enough for its tannin to resolve. Once it reaches middle age, it takes on a brandyish air I strongly associate with Rioja. Indeed, if I were to taste it blind, my best guess would probably be a fine mature Rioja Crianza or very lightly oaked Reserva.
I generally think of myself as preferring older wines, but surprisingly, I think Musar may be an exception. As an early adolescent (the 1999 at this tasting, or the 2002 I have now bought two cases of), it fires on all cylinders: its signature complexity is already visible, but it’s layered on top of extremely generous fruit impeccably balanced by invigorating acidity. As you’d expect, as it moves into maturity, the fruit fades and the body lightens while the secondary notes become more prominent. But I don’t find myself convinced that the tradeoff is worth it. The really old vintages may be fascinating lab experiments, but I’ll order a 1999 or 2002 with my meal, thank you very much.
This is great news for my wallet, as Musar has an extremely steep price-age curve, especially in the UK. Up to about 15 years from harvest, the grand vin can be had for a song: $24 a bottle in bond, which comes to $32 after duty and VAT. It’s also widely available in half-bottles, which is the optimal volume for this single drinker. Then, as you move towards 20 years and out, the price skyrockets, moving well north of $100 in a hurry, and reaching double or triple that for sought-after old vintages. (Traditional Piedmont seems to show a similar pattern, though it’s more expensive across the board). If the pattern holds, then buying caseloads of '99 Musar and sitting on it might prove a fine investment.
Posted from CellarTracker