1989 Chateau Musar- Lebanon, Bekaa Valley (9/29/2018)
This bottle was a huge disappointment, imported by Negotiants USA Inc in Sonoma, CA. It’s missing the magic of any of the bottles that I’ve had in the past that Broadbent imported, it honestly reminded me of a bad blend of California Cabernet, Carignan, and Cinsault. Over-oaked, and stewed red fruits…I’m never buying another bottle of Musar imported by this company again. I would recommend anyone that likes Musar AVOID wines imported by this company.
1989 Chateau Musar Carignan- Lebanon, Bekaa Valley (9/30/2018)
At this point, this wine has been open for 20+/- hours. It was decanted for sediment and then poured back into the bottle. This is a special wine, and similarly to tasting Musar in a 17-Vintage Vertical, I feel like I understand the wines a little better now having had this experience. It really highlighted how much of the nose in typical Musar is related to Carignan. There is a hint of burnt sugar, dried cherries, dried lilac, and a lingering note of aged wood like old church pews. The palate is smooth in a way that only aged wines can be, as the tannins are fully resolved. Dried cherries and spice are the dominate flavors that come to mind, but there is just so much more…
Drew, thanks for the empathy…I’ve just started to see a lot of grey market Musar recently and every time I’ve had one, I’ve been disappointed. I’m no longer ITB (I was for about 9-10 years) so I have no reason to promote Broadbent. I’m just sharing it because I really do think there is a significant difference in the wines for me. As for the Carignan, it was recently released after the passing of Serge. It’s OMFG expensive, but was very generously donated by Doug (a board member here). We had a crazy night of overindulgence. I’ll try to list the other wines here in another post…but honestly it was more about the company and sharing than anything else. What blows my mind…about 1/2 of the people canceled at the last minute. Their loss…
It looks like the Musar Carignan would win the award for world’s most expensive Carignan!!!
Here are some notes from about the $769.00 2-pack (White & Carignan) "Château Musar Serge Hochar Commemorative Set":
"1989 Chateau Musar CARIGNAN:
“This wine is made exclusively from Carignan grapes sourced from a single vineyard in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. Although all of Chateau Musar’s red wines are blends, this wine was Serge’s single exception, his message to the world that this humble varietal could result in a truly special wine. The 1989 is a ruby color with a burnt orange hue. It has notes of coffee, tobacco, cigar box and Assam tea leaves with a hint of chocolate and spices. The palate is soft and silky, with spicy red and black fruits such as prunes and blackcurrants, surrounded by chocolate and mocha. Nutmeg and sage are present on the long finish. Dense and rich with harmonious acidity providing clarity and cut to the rich, ripe red fruit flavor.”
@ Kelly Flynn - We paired these with a wide range of foods. We had, truffle risotto, a basic cheese pizza, sushi, and select cheeses. If you’re asking what I think would pair best with a specific wine…I’m happy to add to that as well.
@ David Glasser - I’ve encountered this problem with EVERY Musar (on multiple occasions) I’ve had that was not imported by Broadbent. So I have to conclude that Broadbent Selections is doing something right that others are not with these wines. I’ve had these problems with wines bought from multiple sources, locations, and states…I think it’s just my take on these. Others that I taste with have also noted these challenges and that is the most common conclusion. Maybe Broadbent ships these in much cooler shipping containers, maybe there’s something else that they do…what I’ve learned from this is that (for me) Broadbent is the ONLY importer that I trust with Musar. They were also the first to the table supporting Musar for the last 20+ years…so maybe they get first selection or something else that weighs in on this…I am not sure.
Interesting Kirk. I was wondering if there might be slightly different cuvées made for different importers, like some of the old Kermit Lynch imports of… my memory fails.
A shame that so many bottles would be ruined by poor handling. But good to know to check the back label before buying.
I agree with Kirk about the quality of the Carignan and how instructive it was to taste it. I liked the regular '89 Musar more than he did, but it still did not have the magic that many old Broadbent imported bottles have. I thought this was the perfect state of evolution for tasting the '89 Carignan: it shows some maturity and is perfectly ready to drink, but still has lots of freshness so one can pick up the fruit and varietal character. They only released one thousand nine hundred eighty nine bottles of the Carignan, so I expect it’s going to be tough to find unless Musar or Broadbent still has any to sell.
While the poor showing of the regular Musar is of course a disappointment that sounds like an absolutely fascinating comparison to sit down to. Color me jealous.
![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}
