TN: Ch. Musar Rouge 2006

WINE TALK
#1

Much to my surprise I saw a red Musar 2006 in Finland today. I assumed that once the 2009 is finished we’d move on to 2010 once that is released but no. Musar apparently didn’t feel this vintage was ready for release at the normal age of 7 years so kept it longer than normal.

Summer 2006 was cool in the Bekaa Valley with only 10 days of normal summer temperatures, but this does not smell or taste like a cool vintage wine. In fact it seems a more fruit-forward and easy wine than usual at this stage for Musar. It does have pretty good acidity (I guess that might come from cooler than normal temperatures) but that acidity is married to very fleshy and vibrant fruit. It is still recognizably Musar with a bit of funk and VA lift, but neither in massive amounts. I like this a lot. Maybe it isn’t one of the truly great vintages but who cares as it’s still very obviously Musar.

Anyone else had it yet? Did it seem more typically cool vintage in style to you?

#2

I haven’t seen this one the shelves yet. I seem to recall seeing '07, then '09. Like you, I figured '10 would be next … silly me! Thanks for the note. [cheers.gif]

#3

Yes, thanks. Musar does seem to have gotten a bit cleaner with the past few releases, but it still has the distinctive character that makes it a unique wine. I’ll look forward to trying the ‘06 when it hits my local market. This has also been a good reminder for me to take a bottle of ‘09 for a test drive. I think I somehow forgot to try that one. I buy 1 bottle of each vintage to decide if I want more for the cellar.

#4

A bottle of the ‘00 was my first Musar experience a few months ago. It was opened as part of a casual wine tasting with a few wine buddies and we were all blown away. Kevin Sidders of VinConnect fame was able to locate some ‘99 and ‘00 and our group of five quickly purchased 3 cases. I look forward to buying a lot more Musar.

#5

When on, Musar is a great and of course distinctive wine. I have a bunch of the 99 in the cellar thanks to Otto and others. Thanks for the peek in at the 06, sounds nice.

#6

I had a 99 this week at the (superb) Spoon and Stable restaurant in Minneapolis. Great wine, very clean yet with plenty of character. Would have been more fun to follow out of the decanter for longer, but it was plenty good on shorter experience too.

I also had a 2003 a few weeks ago. Good bottle, but a little more on the sweet/candied side than my favorite vintages - maybe 03 was a hot year in Lebanon too?

#7

I don’t know about the weather, but the '03 has always struck me as odd. I didn’t buy any for aging.

#8

The 1999 has been great from release and it never seems to have shut down. Also, it’s a bit weird in not needing massive decanting times to show well. I love that year.

Bekaa Valley had a heat-wave in the early part of 2003 but the rest of the summer was a bit cooler than normal - certainly nothing like Europe that summer.

#9

I’ve found the 2003 very lovely and especially when it was released it was quite funky in the bretty-leathery end of the spectrum. It has aged really well and I’m happy that I still have a bottle or two of it left in my cellar.

I tasted Musar 2006 quite soon after it was released in spring 2017. To me, it came across as rather smooth and mellow for a Musar. It was also quite polished from the start, not showing any noticeable funk at all, just warm-climate fruit. Furthermore, I found it ever-so-slightly raisiny, which was a bit odd, given the cooler vintage.