Portland, Maine - Musar - Oct 9

I had such a wonderful time at the Chateau Branaire-Ducru tasting in June! Checking in to see if folks would be interested in getting together again at Grippy Tannins in September. I’m open to other themes but I have enough Musar for a fun tour.

Vintage Wine
2012 Chateau Musar
2004 Chateau Musar
2001 Chateau Musar
2000 Chateau Musar
1999 Chateau Musar
1998 Chateau Musar
1995 Chateau Musar
2010 Chateau Musar Blanc (Magnum)
2001 Chateau Musar Blanc
2020 Chateau Musar Hochar Père & Fils
2022 Chateau Musar Musar Jeune Blanc
2021 Chateau Musar Musar Jeune Red
2018 Chateau Musar Rosé

Date

Thursday, October 9

When / Where

6pm @ Grippy Tannins

Let me know if you’re interested and which dates would work best. Hope to see you there!

Tentative Attendance

@RyanM +7
@Dan_Kravitz +1
@DougS +1
@Kirk.Grant
@Ben.J
@David_W1
= 15

Waitlist

@David_W1’s +1
Kurt & Sabrina

Ryan,

This is a huge WOW of a tasting. I am honored.

I’ve only had Musar in a few vintages, never with any age, and as an aficionado of great obscure wines am often chastised for this.

September 4th or 18th would work for me. The 25th probably does not. I would probably be a plus 1 with my friend Eileen. I left a few bottles at Grippy after the last tasting, do not remember exactly what but I think there’s a 1975 Lanessan in there which should be a good counterpoint.

I do not have any really analogous wines to add (I don’t think there are any analogous wines!), but will come up other contributions.

Please let me know.

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Excellent! I’m glad you’re excited to explore some Musar. It’s one of the wines that showed me how dramatically age can improve wine. I think @David_W1 is a Musar fan so I suspect he’ll be down if the timing works out. I’ll check in with various non-Berserkers to see which of those dates work for them.

Excellent idea Ryan. I’m a Musar fan, especially the white, of which I could contribute some aged bottles. We’re sorting out some schedule details for September as we speak so will follow up shortly!

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Sadly I’m to far away to be there. But, at the risk of teaching grandma to suck eggs, please don’t pull and pour the old Musars - they need decanting for several to many hours to show their best.

And absolutely have some older whites in there. The “middle” range (Hochar Pere & Fils) is worth a look too (and still needs a decant, but perhaps only an hour or two).

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Ryan - I would be interested, but only available on the 4th. I could bring a 2003 for the line up.

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Great! Hope the scheduling works out so you can make it.

Thanks, I’m relatively new to this wine hobby so I can use all the egg sucking advice I can get. Last time we did this with Branaire-Ducru, Lindsey let me come by a few hours early to double decant the youngest of the vertical so I’ll make sure to do the same with these Musars.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any Hochar and have never tried it but I’m pretty sure this shop had a bottle on the shelf last time I was in there. Not sure if it’s red or white but if it’s anywhere near a drinking window I’ll grab it next time I’m in.

Great! I’ll post here once I have a clearer idea of which date works best for most folks. Hope the 4th wins out, looking forward to meeting you.

My apologies @Jud_Reis, it turns out I can’t do the 4th so I’ve asked Lindsey for a couple of dates in early October to see if we can’t find a date when all four Berserkers can make it.

Ryan - thanks, but I am gone for much of early October, so please don’t reschedule on my behalf.

Okay, sorry about that. Hope you can make it to the next one!

I should be available early October. The earlier the better, as I have some travel towards mid-month and then the Good Old Stuff towards the end.

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I take it the alternative September dates don’t work for some reason?
I could definitely do the 18th and possibly the 25th.

September 18 and 25 still work for me, I was just hoping to find a date that works for all three of you, David, and Jud but Jud is out of town early October so we’ll do whatever works best for you, David, and a handful of non-Berserkers. I’ve asked Lindsey to provide a couple of early October dates just in case too many folks aren’t able to make the September dates.

OK, thanks.

I’ll be a plus 1 with Eileen and have other wine-loving friends who might be able to join us if you have space. I would also like to have some real food, probably about the time we started on the Musar reds. Lindsey has recommended a caterer. As I can’t provide any Musar, I’d be happy to pick up dinner and it would be better more suitable than the impromptu Japanese we scrounged up last time.

Just let me know.

Thank you!

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Excellent, looking forward to it! I’m definitely cool with you bringing your wine-loving friends along. Perhaps we should aim for 8 - 12 people and wait list after 15. That seem reasonable to you for the space?

That’s a fantastic idea, thanks!

Once we hear from David on his availability and Lindsey on early October backup dates I’ll email a handful of non-Berserkers. If possible, I’d like to find a date that is convenient for at least us three Berserkers.

Finally have some schedule clarity now…cannot do Sept 18th or 25th; had no idea September Thursdays would be so busy. Don’t feel obligated to schedule around me, although it’s always nice to have a few WB-ers at these events.

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Sounds good. Lindsey should have early October dates for us in the next week or so and if none of those work for both you and @Dan_Kravitz we’ll probably fall back to Sept 18.

Lindsey happened to have a 2020 Hochar on the shelf when I was there last weekend so we’ll try one of those too!

Sept 18 remains good for me and my Friend Eileen. October is up in the air for me, although Eileen is less likely in that period. I’m starting to plan a France/Spain trip for October, but that is preliminary and flexible.

Thanks for all of the effort on this.

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