My First Musar

[Ron_F_r_e_e_d]

Had my first '03 this past Tuesday, and was QUITE pleased. It was decanted about 1.5 hours prior to tasting–perhaps an extra hour would have been best, but it was everything I love in a Musar.

[Jason_T]

I had my first Musar several weeks back - happened to be an '03. Let it decant a couple hours prior to tasting. It was very nice but perhaps I just expected more? Robert’s description below definitely applied.

I’ve had the 99 twice in the last couple of months, definitely go with that one.

And post your thoughts. It’s an intriguing wine, arguably more interesting than great, but definitely distinct.

[AD_Northup]

1999 is the most recent vintage that I’m confident is a great vintage. There might be other contenders, like 2010, but the ones I’ve had have been too young to know for sure. If you love the '99, keep in mind that the price will go up drastically over the next few years.

06 is great, but not sure if that’s hit the US market yet.

If it hasn’t I doubt it will, since it was released 2½ years ago and haven’t seen them in a year or so.

I really didn’t find 2006 that good upon release, but some of my Musarophilic friends have said that the wine is getting its game together slowly.

2007 has been constantly a disappointing vintage, but 2008 OTOH has been a very impressive and promising one. I have big expectations for that one.

I’ve got a number of bottles stored away from my time living in Stockholm. I haven’t checked in on one in 2-3 years, but my personal CT notes seem to be happy and borderline optimistic about the potential of the bottles…think I’ll give it a few more years before checking either way.

[Jay_Miller]

I’d also like to put in a good word for the 2000. Jay H. opened one next to the 1999 earlier this year and while the 1999 is gorgeous with plenty of further upside I gave a marginal nod to the 2000 for current drinking. A lighter vintage to be sure but no less captivating.

[DougS]

1999 is the most recent vintage that I’m confident is a great vintage. There might be other contenders, like 2010, but the ones I’ve had have been too young to know for sure. If you love the '99, keep in mind that the price will go up drastically over the next few years.

Doug, please remind me why the prices for Musar will go up drastically in the next few years. Scarcity and demand dynamics and/or something else? Thanks, -Jim

The winery holds quite a bit of back vintage wine, but as it gets older and depleted, the prices start to go up a lot. The '99 is sort of on the cusp of much higher pricing. I don’t know how much of this is Broadbent and how much is Musar, but I get the sense now that a lot of it is the latter.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

The '99 is stunning. Hope it showed well, Jim!

[Chris_Seiber]

I’ve got a number of bottles stored away from my time living in Stockholm.

Did you find that after you’d had the bottles captive in your storage for a long time, they started to develop positive feelings for you and form a sort of alliance with you and your goals?

[Robert.A.Jr]

I’ve got a number of bottles stored away from my time living in Stockholm.

Did you find that after you’d had the bottles captive in your storage for a long time, they started to develop positive feelings for you and form a sort of alliance with you and your goals?

ROTFLMFAO

[Chris_Seiber]

I personally like to decant my Musar (regardless of age) 3+ hours at a minimum.

But I would suggest tasting it here and there along its decanting journey. A good Musar bottle can be like several great wines in one bottle - I can’t think of any wine that shows so many different and interesting faces over the course of a long evening.

Rather in the way of Barolo and Barbaresco, the best way to enjoy Musar is to watch a bottle evolve from before dinner, through the meal, and into the later evening. If you drink all of it in one short period (e.g. serve a small glass all at once to 8 people to go with one course or something), (a) it’s hard to get it showing its best for a given short window and (b) you’ll miss seeing all the interesting things it would do over more time.

[Neal.Mollen]

Some people don’t like it.

[AD_Northup]

I’ve got a number of bottles stored away from my time living in Stockholm.

Did you find that after you’d had the bottles captive in your storage for a long time, they started to develop positive feelings for you and form a sort of alliance with you and your goals?

[Chris_Seiber]

1999 is the most recent vintage that I’m confident is a great vintage. There might be other contenders, like 2010, but the ones I’ve had have been too young to know for sure. If you love the '99, keep in mind that the price will go up drastically over the next few years.

Doug, please remind me why the prices for Musar will go up drastically in the next few years. Scarcity and demand dynamics and/or something else? Thanks, -Jim

Musar is a wine whose price goes up pretty steeply for back vintages. Including ones that are not considered the top vintages of the wine.

I’m not suggesting someone embark on a flip strategy, but I am suggesting that it’s better to buy from the ten or so more recently-released vintages and store them than it is to hold off and buy back vintages later. Vintages like 1995, 1993 and 1991 go for $150+ at this point. Vintages in the 1980s are $200-$500 a bottle.

I agree with Doug - I wouldn’t be surprised if the 1999 doubles in price in the next 5-8 years.

[Craig_G]

I’ve got a number of bottles stored away from my time living in Stockholm.

Did you find that after you’d had the bottles captive in your storage for a long time, they started to develop positive feelings for you and form a sort of alliance with you and your goals?

ROTFLMFAO

Oh, that was good.

[Craig_G]

1999 is the most recent vintage that I’m confident is a great vintage. There might be other contenders, like 2010, but the ones I’ve had have been too young to know for sure. If you love the '99, keep in mind that the price will go up drastically over the next few years.

Doug, please remind me why the prices for Musar will go up drastically in the next few years. Scarcity and demand dynamics and/or something else? Thanks, -Jim

Some people are saying that Charlie Fu has been quietly stockpiling Musar.

[Rajiv_Ayyangar]

1999 is the most recent vintage that I’m confident is a great vintage. There might be other contenders, like 2010, but the ones I’ve had have been too young to know for sure. If you love the '99, keep in mind that the price will go up drastically over the next few years.

Doug, please remind me why the prices for Musar will go up drastically in the next few years. Scarcity and demand dynamics and/or something else? Thanks, -Jim

The winery holds quite a bit of back vintage wine, but as it gets older and depleted, the prices start to go up a lot. The '99 is sort of on the cusp of much higher pricing. I don’t know how much of this is Broadbent and how much is Musar, but I get the sense now that a lot of it is the latter.

Building on what Doug said, the winery is keeping less and less wine in reserve (much less than the Serge Hochar days of 50% held back), which makes sound financial sense but will further raise prices due to scarcity.

I agree with everyone who’s recommended the '99. The '04 is brilliant, but “pre-inflection” so it’s really not that recognizable as Musar. They tend to shift over 15-20 years. The 2000 and 2001 became tertiary early, as did the '98. The '99 took a bit longer but in recent tastings it’s got plenty of tertiary detail.

I usually do an 8hr double-decant or Audouze for the '99. It looks like Marc Hochar did this at a recent tasting: Community Tasting Note - 1999 Chateau Musar - CellarTracker

[Otto_Forsberg]

Haven’t tried it myself, but a friend of mine who has a sizeable collection of Musar going back for decades says that he hasn’t been fond of those late release back vintages. According to him, there might be something in the process of refilling and recorking the bottles that affects the wines negatively. He says that comparisons of old late release bottles have consistently performed poorly in comparison to those old bottles from his own cellar.

Since I don’t have such a stash of old Musar myself, I haven’t been able to confirm this phenomenon, but I have no reason not to believe what he says.

[aaronfullen]

I’ve got a number of bottles stored away from my time living in Stockholm.

Did you find that after you’d had the bottles captive in your storage for a long time, they started to develop positive feelings for you and form a sort of alliance with you and your goals?

Post of the year.

-af

[Jim_Stewart]

I personally like to decant my Musar (regardless of age) 3+ hours at a minimum.

But I would suggest tasting it here and there along its decanting journey. A good Musar bottle can be like several great wines in one bottle - I can’t think of any wine that shows so many different and interesting faces over the course of a long evening.

Rather in the way of Barolo and Barbaresco, the best way to enjoy Musar is to watch a bottle evolve from before dinner, through the meal, and into the later evening. If you drink all of it in one short period (e.g. serve a small glass all at once to 8 people to go with one course or something), (a) it’s hard to get it showing its best for a given short window and (b) you’ll miss seeing all the interesting things it would do over more time.

Thanks Chris, your Barolo analogy brought it right to something I can relate to. My “game plan” is set! Cheers -Jim