One of the two vintages I have at home ('03 the other), so I also appreciate the note. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I’ve been drinking Musar for close to 12 years now. I’m sure there are others that have more experience, but I’ve tasted most of the 80’s multiple times and had cases of the wines from the 90’s; I think I bought 3 cases of the 94’s between 2007-2008. So i’d Start by offering that in my thoughts the 99 is still a baby…it is just shedding it’s youth now…I would expect it to last another 20-25+ years with good storage and a little patience. For those that are enjoying them now…I understand the love and the strong desire to drink these now…I think I drank a case of the ‘95 over the last 10 years and i’d say the ‘99 makes the most sense as the wine that folks would be drawn to…having said that. I’d strongly encourage folks to seek out the ‘98 as it was panned by a lot of folks that drink Musar…but as is “very Musar” it’s come around to something that is very special. Also…seek out some older Musar Blanc if you can find it…they’re very similar in style to LdH Gran Reserva Whites…at a fraction of the price…for now.
The 93 will be more than 4X the price of 99
The 2001 is also drinkable now
I may give this wine another try, not sure that I have had the 1999. My local guy has it for $70. Also has the 2001 and 2004.
The '99 red has been a strange Musar in that it has been supremely enjoyable since release and has never really shut down. But like Wade says, it’s still a young one. No hurry with it.
I have access to 04 and 08 locally.
I also bought 02 at the same time as the 99 - I liked it a lot, but it was definitely showing far less development than the 99. Don’t have my note from a year ago, unfortunately, but I would be unlikely to expect the same kind of experience as I had with the 99 for at least another 8-10 years.
I think $70 was about right.
Flickingers does have some back vintage Musar on sale for a couple more hours today, I believe. Yesterday I picked up some 85 and 87. If they are anything approaching the 86, they will prove more than worth the tariff.
My big problem with this and others that are starting to offer “back vintages” is that they are not imported by Broadbent and I’ve seen a HUGE difference in the Musar that was “grey market” enough times that unless I know it’s coming from Broadbent I’m not willing to pay…sad, but so very true…because I love these older vintages of Musar.
Fair point. FWIW I have had numerous back vintages of Musar from this retailer, and they have been fine.
Wonderful to read this as that’s my son’s birth-year and I bought some for him. He doesn’t even like wine (yet) so it should be great whenever he “sees the light” . . .
And, if not, I’ll drink it!
Because of this thread I bought two bottles of the 99. I expect provenance to be risky though. Someone brought the 2004 this year to an offline with lots of Burgs and it was revelatory, very fresh and balanced with some upside.
Having tasted the '99 six times over the past three years, I’d second Kirk’s assessment that the '99 is a baby (though I had a very tertiary bottle last year that Gaston Hochar decanted - probably for a long time before the tasting). The '98 and even 2000 seem faster-maturing.
The '99 was certainly brooding and in that awkward inflection stage for most of the bottles I tasted in 2015-2017. It didn’t seem to resemble the muscular, densely-fruited, almost cab-like wine that I tasted in 2010 and 2012. The primary fruit had diminished but the tertiary dried fruit-tamari-floral complexity hadn’t emerged yet. But then again, that seems to be a typical Musar arc.
Also given that we all have limited sample sizes, these arcs are hard to assess. Bottle variation plays a huge role - my last bottle of the '94 was a totally different wine (and more like the '95) than any of the 12+ previous bottles I had. I don’t know why.
Bartholomew Broadbent said that the more he tastes each vintage, the less he feels he understands them. This is one of those cases where 2 data points makes a line, 3 points makes a curve, and the 4th datapoint convinces you that there’s something much more complex at play.
That may be true, but a 2009 Musar I tasted at release was gloriously fleshy and absolutely a top wine experience, and I regret nothing
+1 on the 98, a lighter style but lovely.
For me, the most distinctive thing — for good or bad — about Musar is a VA, sherry-esque, paint thinner cum petroleum spirit note. The volume on this note varies from vintage to vintage and bottle to bottle, but I almost always detect it. It’s the Musar signature. I am tolerant of this note but neutral about it’s pros and cons; it neither adds or detracts from what I love about Musar.
anyone tried an 05 recently?
Pat: You are so right. For years I have had that somewhere in my lizard brain but heretofore had been unable to articulate it.
I haven’t tasted the ‘05 this year, but I’ve tasted it a few times in 2016 and most recently October 2017:
Medium ruby to a garnet rim. Expressive ripe blackberry and tamari fruit. Wide open right out of the bottle. Spicy Brett with some oxidation and a bright balsamic prickle. Vibrant and while still primary, absolutely delicious. Seems like a bolder style of Musar.
After an hour or so, it’s doing a lovely bitter homemade maraschino cherry thing (earthy, not confected, complex, slightly fermented). A suggestion of tart dried sour cranberry.
Still pre-inflection. Nose leads with sour Lambic-like Brett and Oxidation. Fruit isn’t integrated yet but it seems intense, strong, and already complex.
Medium body, elevated alcohol, bright medium plus acid and medium tannins - plush and relatively melted, but still grippy.
This shows all signs of being epic like the '91 and '99.
Great thread. I have 2 bottles of the '99 but have not cracked one yet. May be time to do so.
Cheers,
Doug
I had the 2010 over the last two nights. I thought it was enjoyable and approachable for such a young wine. I certainly can see how these can age on and on. My first Musar red. The blanco is so good.