TN: Ch Musar: 2014–2002, 1983 reds, 2009 white

[Ken_V]

CH MUSAR - Fort Orange Club, Albany, NY (6/20/2024)

My local tasting group met to taste Ch. Musar reds. One generous member provided all the reds. Another brought the one white.

All the reds were double-decanted and recorked between 2 and 3pm. However, for the 2014, 2013 and 2008, the corks were left out after rebottling for 75 minutes.

The Fort Orange Club is a great venue for these dinners since we get a private room and the food is superb and well matched to the wines.

Photos and more details can be found on my website.

Starter: A Musar White

Grilled Quail with a Port-Pomegranate Reduction, Wilted Frisee, Lardons, and Fried Shallots. Every bite was delicious.

• 2009 Chateau Musar Blanc - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  [Pop and pour.] Lovely nose of lemon custard and minerals. Expansive and delicious. Great mouth feel. I would never guess this was 15 years old. (94 points)

Flight 1: 2014, 2013, 2012 Musar Red

With the quail shown above.

• 2014 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Bright red fruit in the nose. Very young in the mouth with lots of fruit and tannin. Hard to judge now. 90-93 (90 points)
• 2013 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Dark, smoky, red fruit nose. Smooth. Sweet black fruit. Long and complex. Very promising. 93-?? (93 points)
• 2012 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Nose of blackberries and spice. Thick, rich, young with some complexity and length. 92-?? (92 points)

Flight 2: 2011, 2010, 2009 Musar Red

Cabernet-Braised, Maple Leaf Farms Duck Leg with Red Cabbage & Granny Smith Slaw, and Sour Cherry-Apricot Compote. This was so good and went so well with these wines.

• 2011 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Lovely nose of red plums. Sour cherries in the mouth. Disjointed. 89-?? (89 points)
• 2010 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  A more mature nose of red fruit and bark mulch. Juicy and spicy in the mouth. Shows well with the duck leg. Beautiful wine. 93-95 (94 points)
• 2009 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Bright red fruit nose. Palate of red fruit and spice. Lacks the lift of the 2010. May need more time. (90 points)

Flight 3: 2008, 2007, 2005 Musar Red

Elk Loin with Blackberry Bourbon Sauce, Petite Pomme Anne, and Asparagus & Wild Mushroom Sauté. Another delicious dish which paired really well with the wines.

• 2008 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Expansive nose of cherries and tar. Long and juicy with appealing acidity. Needs time. 93-?? (93 points)
• 2007 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Big gamey red fruit nose. Rich, juicy, and complex in the mouth. Wow, this one feels fully ready to enjoy now, but could still get even better. WOTN so far. 95-?? (95 points)
• 2005 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Big, smokey red fruit nose. Tart juicy red fruit. Doesn't show as well after the 2007. (91 points)

Flight 4: 2004, 2003, 2002, 1993 Musar Red

Local Cheese Plate with Nancy’s Camembert, Jake’s Aged Gouda, R&G Ramp Cheese, Chatham Boujee Blue, Honeycomb, Preserves, Grapes and Berries. Lovely.

• 2004 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Lots of smoke and spice with plenty of red and black fruit. Young, but tasty and complex. This might be my second favorite so far. 93-?? (93 points)
• 2003 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  The most mature nose so far. Lots of red fruit and forest floor. Bright, complex, long and delicious. 93-?? (93 points)
• 2002 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Intense red fruit nose. Big and spicy in the mouth. Lots of pleasure here, esp. with the elk dish. 93-?? (93 points)
• 1993 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  This is fully mature, maybe even past its prime. Lots of forest floor, leather, and dried cherries. Interesting, but not as fun to drink. (91 points)

I love tastings like this. It was so interesting to taste such a range of vintages. It was another great evening of great food, wine, and friends.

Posted from CellarTracker.

[Otto_Forsberg]

I’m not that surprised that 2003 or 2005 didn’t perform that well, because with Musar, there’s always an element of bottle variation. Those two are, however, some of the best vintages of Musar I’ve tasted from the 2000’s.

However, I was more surprised how well you rated 2012, because that has always felt more Porty or even like a cheap Ripasso with its over-ripe fruit profile and noticeable residual sugar.

Most of all I was surprised how highly-rated you thought 2007 was. To me, it has been consistently the worst vintage in the 2000’s (well, maybe with 2012). Almost always underwhelming and often showing a streak of bitterness that feels out of place in a Musar. At one point I thought I had had the wine just too young and it was evolving in the right direction, but the recent tastes have resulted in disappointments again. It’s funny how it can be so great to some, whereas for me it is a vintage I wouldn’t buy, even if somebody was selling at below-market prices!

[Ken_V]

Different strokes for different folks, as Muhammad Ali once said.

Here are the notes from @salilb who was also at this dinner. We didn’t agree on all the wines.
https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=55059

Here are the group’s votes (which are also at the bottom of this page on my website:
WOTN Voting (3pts each for #1, 2pts for #2, 1pt for #3)
Just the reds.

Rank	Pts	Wine
1	21	1993
2	17	2003
3	12	2007
4	10	2012
5	5	2005
6	3	2010
7	2	2002
8(tie)	1	2013
8(tie)	1	2014

[salilb]

Yup, I was the outlier on a few wines. Here are my impressions with notes below

1. The wines were generally outstanding and something I should be putting in my cellar given prices for current vintages. (Especially given the price trends for other things that I have bought previously, or have slowed down on buying given the prices at certain addresses in the Rhone and Burgundy.)
2. I was also impressed by the consistency - I know Musar has a reputation for VA and brett issues. There were several wines where brett and/or VA were evident in small quantities, but we did not have any bottles that were genuinely flawed or where those factors became distractions/overwhelmed from the main fruit. I thought that in a few of the wines, it added a bit of complexity (not unlike a bit of Cordier funk) without becoming a flaw.
3. We only had one bottle of Musar blanc, but I found it really compelling and a wine I would have loved to keep returning to and exploring with more time.

FWIW, there were a couple of wines where I was the outlier - I seemed to like the 2011 much more than some others, while many others liked the 05 and the 93 a lot more than I did.

WCC: MUSAR - Fort Orange Club, Albany, NY (6/20/2024)

• 2009 Chateau Musar Blanc - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Really compelling stuff - there's a waxy character here, lanolin and hay notes framing the rich white fruit in a way that reminds me of white Bordeaux or older Hunter Valley Sémillon. But the palate's much richer, with the textural thickness of old school Burgundy or aged white Rioja. It's relatively low in terms of its acidity, but the fruit still feels very fresh and lively, and this never feels soft or heavy. (94 points)

• 2014 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Love the aromatics here. Incredibly lifted and floral, perhaps a faint touch of VA here as well, but it's really about exuberant red fruit and higher-toned florality in a perfume that makes it lovely to sit and smell. The palate doesn't quite live up to the nose - it feels a touch soft, leaving me wanting more lift and acidity on the palate, and the alcohol peeks out a bit on the finish. (88 points)
• 2013 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Similarly high-toned floral aromatics to the '14, but this feels more dark fruited in character whereas that was all fresh red berries. I like the aromatic complexity here a bit more, and the palate also feels a bit lighter on its feet although it feels a bit lean on the back end, as the tannin clamps down on the finish. (90 points)
• 2012 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Others seemed to like this more than I did - it's richer and more deeply fruited than the '13 and '14 in the same flight, but I also found a slightly stewed/roasted component on the nose that I didn't enjoy. It doesn't carry through to the palate though, where there's plenty of ripe red and black fruit and more savoury earthiness on a fairly full frame (that feels bigger than the more medium-weight '13 and '14). (89 points)

• 2011 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  I may have been the outlier here, liking this much more than several others on the table. Love the aromatics. A fairly strong leathery scent on the nose suggests there's some brett here, but it doesn't dominate and comes together nicely with the red and dark fruited flavours. The palate's surprisingly savoury, showing more earthy development than the wines from the previous flight, though also quite a lot of structure evident here. There's plenty of acidity and also quite a bit of grainy tannin on the back end (a few others commented on it being astringent), though both of those feel more integrated with air - I liked this even more when returning to it much later in the night. (92 points)
• 2010 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Oh hell yeah. There's a very Cote-Rotie like character to this (so of course it was my favorite of the flight) with plenty of red fruit and leathery savouriness on the note, but also a higher toned spiciness and faintly saline/olive-y scents that emerge with more air. The palate presence is gorgeous - medium weight, silky, so refined and easy to drink. One of my favorites of the night. (94 points)
• 2009 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Quite a contrast to the 2010 and 2011 in the same flight; this feels much bigger and more intensely black fruited in contrast to the other two, which felt lighter and more red-fruited. One person suggests this may be due to more Cab Sauv in the blend. It certainly has more heft than the other wines, a richer and more plush feel on the palate, though also feels a touch lower in acid. (91 points)

• 2008 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Very pretty; starts out with fresh red fruits and a light spiciness, but a little time in the glass brings out more savoury leathery and earthy funk that adds to the complexity here without ever dominating. Liked this a lot, just didn't pay enough attention as I was still following the '10 from the previous flight and blown away by the 2007 in the next glass. (90 points)
• 2007 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  There's a scene in Rick and Morty where Rick calls himself the Rickest Rick. This wine's the Musarest Musar. There's a wildness, a slightly gamey quality here - leathery funk and faintly heady, high-toned scents suggesting there's both some VA and brett here, but those flavours never dominate and instead come together seamlessly with the sappy red and dark fruited flavours, and other savoury earthiness. A few of the other wines at the table brought about comparisons to Burgundy or Northern Rhones, but this one's everything we could expect from Musar, and it shows it in spades without restraint. Awesome. (95 points)
• 2005 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Boom. This one's a big wine. It's very CdP like in the liqueur-like intensity of the fruit flavours, more kirsch than fresh cherries here. The leathery and earthy notes play much quieter notes here, this one might be the most fruit-forward Musar on the table tonight and I found it monolithic and a bit simple compared to the '08 and '07 in the same flight. (88 points)

• 2004 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Good, not great. A touch blocky and heavy, lacking the lightness and energy of other wines in this lineup. (87 points)
• 2003 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  This on the other hand, just flat out wow. Probably my wine of the night (though a tough call between this and the '07). The aromatic complexity, depth, and overall sense of balance here put this on another level - fruit, earth, leather, and all sorts of other developed savoury notes all come together seamlessly on a medium weight frame, and there's a remarkably polished, finessed texture to it. (96 points)
• 2002 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  A more dark fruited profile here, but also a more heady, slightly spirity aspect to the aromatics - kirsch and blackberry liqueur notes stand out, and I'm not sure if that's a function of VA or higher alcohol/ripeness here. Even though the aromatics suggest something much riper, the palate is more restrained and also has a nice sense of lift from the acidity. (91 points)
• 1993 Chateau Musar - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley
  Liked but didn't love this (I may have been the outlier again, with a few nominating it among their favorites of the night). It shows its age with the leathery and earthy funk framing more gentle, delicate red fruited flavours, and shows the gentleness and restraint of an older red - but this also felt a bit more anonymous, coming across like a red that's been well aged but had little to distinguish it from other wines/grapes. (89 points)

Posted from CellarTracker

[salilb]

@Otto_Forsberg

I’m not that surprised that 2003 or 2005 didn’t perform that well, because with Musar, there’s always an element of bottle variation. Those two are, however, some of the best vintages of Musar I’ve tasted from the 2000’s.

The 2003 did show very well. Ken liked it a lot (see his note above), and it was one of my favorites of the night, just slightly above the 2007 and 2010. I didn’t care for the 2005 - thought it was a bit too ripe/liqueur-like for my taste.

[Chris_Seiber]

@salilb

I was also impressed by the consistency - I know Musar has a reputation for VA and brett issues. There were several wines where brett and/or VA were evident in small quantities, but we did not have any bottles that were genuinely flawed or where those factors became distractions/overwhelmed from the main fruit. I thought that in a few of the wines, it added a bit of complexity (not unlike a bit of Cordier funk) without becoming a flaw.

This has been my experience over the years too. I’m not sure if I’ve been lucky about bottles, or more likely those things have been at levels that strike me as adding interest and character rather than being flaws.

I’ve only one bottle (a 1998) which had band aid Brett to the point of being a drawback to me, plus I had one bottle (sadly from the great 1995 vintage) which was completely oxidized due to a bad seal on the cork (this was a 1995 red).

[Dav3_Dyr0ff]

In my experience with the reds, low-level VA has been much more a constant than brett. I like them and try to buy a bottle or two each vintage.

[Cris_Whetstone]

Good to see the '10 showing well. There was a big Musar vertical out here with the reps back in 2018. It was at a restaurant that carries plenty of Musar on its menu and we were offered to purchase afterwards from many vintages. I definitely bought some '10 because it was clearly an excellent wine in its quite youthful state. I should have bought a lot more of the '99 when I could have still purchased it so cheaply too.