Part of a lovely 6-person dinner that Tran Bronstein will hopefully lead off with more notes on. This was generously donated by our friend, Jay Shampur. I’ve had 4 of these now, and this bottle was very clearly the best so far. Note that there was none of the semi-signature Musar VA. I did get a hint of balsam and a small hint of olive, but most of what was here was zazzy pure cranberry and currant fruit. What differentiated this bottle was the joyfulness and vibrancy that was on display. Really probably at peak, just a wonderful bottle and a superb match with my pork main.
A bientot
Mike
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Thanks for the note - my one lone remaining bottle of Musar is this very vintage, and thus I’ll place it in the ‘drink’ list on CT as a result
I have one left as well, slated that for the 2026 cellar depressurization event. I do think it’s ready to go, Todd. We splash-decanted for about 15 minutes.
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FWIW, Musars usually benefit greatly from air. Although the older vintages can be great upon opening, even they tend to benefit from aeration.
I am in the non-decanting camp, but Musar is one of those wines with which I make an exception. Can’t remember a day when 2 hours of aeration would’ve done the wine nothing but good.
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so we sort of were able to “simulate” that, Otto. I will agree that the last sip of the wine from the glass at the end of the evening was the best for me, but at the same time I would not say it was an order-of-magnitude difference. Always appreciate your substantial knowledge and thoughts!
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Only minutely related but too lazy to open a new thread. Just opened a 2003 Musar White today. Wasn’t the best bottle unfortunately but still good stuff. I still have like 12 bottles left and the color variation between the bottles is circus-like. Talk about bottle variation…
2003 Chateau Musar Blanc
Cork intact but almost seeped through. Aged copper color. Initially slightly unclean nose with touch of rancid peanuts, but after it blows away, it opens with a complex array of fully developed and slightly oxidized aromas of honey, creamy lactic notes, some yellow fruits, pine sap, brown sugar. Palate is somewhat creamy and a little soft with medium- acidity, peach, honey, savory herbs. Finishes long and savory.
This particular bottle is slightly past its peak as the structure is sort of falling apart and is making way to the more mature and oxidized notes. Still very good and enjoyable, but far from the best 2003 I’ve had.
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