Château Musar is one of the world’s truly iconic wineries and recently our Store Manager Richard found out exactly why. He had the pleasure of tasting the range with Marek Wilimowski: extraordinary wines and an equally extraordinary story of making them in Lebanon. |
 It was established in 1930 by Gaston Hochar, who was inspired by Lebanon’s 6,000-year history of winemaking and his own travels to Bordeaux. The Hochar family, who are of French descent, arrived in Lebanon during the 12th Century as knights of the crusades and have remained there ever since. Their association with wine began in the 1920’s when France was assigned the League of Nations mandate for Syria, which at the time included Lebanon. During this time Gaston Hochar started producing his ‘wines with noblesse’ which were so good that they greatly impressed senior officers in the French army. Later, Major Ronald Barton, of Château Langoa-Barton, who was stationed in Lebanon during World War II, became a great friend of Gaston Hochar, cementing the links between Chateau Musar and Bordeaux that remain to this day. |
.jpg) After taking over from his father in 1962 Serge Hochar spent 18 years perfecting the blend for Chateau Musar’s Red and was selected as Decanter Magazine’s first ‘Man of the Year’ in 1984 for his dedication to producing superb quality wines during Lebanon’s Civil War (1975-1990). Now run by the 3rd generation of the family, Chateau Musar is acknowledged as the benchmark of the region, with a long-established reputation for producing great wines renowned for their complexity, elegance and extraordinary ageing ability, be it their red blends or their whites produced from indigenous grapes. |
 Flanked by snow-covered mountains, and nestled at 1000m (3,000 feet) above sea level, the serenely beautiful Bekaa Valley is blessed with 300 days of sunshine a year, fresh mountain breezes and an average temperature of 25°C (encompassing snowy winters and hot summers). Remote and unspoilt, the Musar vineyards were ‘organic’ by default before the term was coined. All the grapes are hand-harvested by local Bedouins between August and October. In the winery, ambient yeasts do the work of fermentation. The bare minimum of sulphur is used and the Chateau Musar Red wines are neither fined nor filtered. Each of the Chateau Musar wines (both red & white) are released a full 6 to 7 years after harvest. Each release is a unique expression of its year and shows remarkable ageing potential but can be drunk now. |
 Chateau Musar Red 2018 is an equal blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Carignan and the Chateau Musar White 2018 is a blend of ancient grapes indigenous to the mountains of Lebanon - Obaideh and Merwah, complex, creamy textured, rich yet dry with honeyed layers. Fascinating wines with a compelling story - wonderful! |
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