fertile , sunny , valley about 25 miles east of Beirut and a decent , and often perilous , trek over the mountains from the winery itself . The Chateau ’ s own website proudly points out that vines have been cultivated here for at least 6,000 years after the Phoenicians , the seafaring ancestors of the modern Lebanese , had been instrumental in bringing vines and wines from Byblos across to all areas around the Mediterranean . Indeed , for those of you who don ’ t know , Lebanon has a long and important history when it comes to wine and wine making – yet I suspect many of you have never , or have seldom , visited the country when it comes to a wine purchase . Those of you that have will , I suspect , know that it often produces wines of great individuality and of great quality . Top of the tree and , without question , the best of Lebanon ’ s wine producers is Chateau Musar .
The most famous of the Chateau Musar wines is the Chateau Musar Red . It is made from a blend of cabernet sauvignon , carignan and cinsault ( all from vineyards near the Bekaa Valley villages of Aana and Kefraya ). The cabernet sauvignon provides the ‘ bones and the skeleton ’ to the wine , the carignan the ‘ flesh and muscle ’ and the cinsault the ‘ silky smooth finesse ’. The Chateau Musar Red wine is unique . It takes seven years from harvest to release of the wine in bottle . In essence the individual varietals are only blended together after having spent a period of two years alone in vats and then in French oak barrels . The varietals are then blended to ‘ reflect the character of the vintage ’. This means that , each year , the wine has its own individual and unique style , and taste , depending on a number of factors and including the fact that the final blend between the different grape varietals can be different year in , year out . The blended varietals then spend a further period of twelve months in cement tanks , followed by four years in bottle before release . Over the course of the last few weeks I have been receiving emails about the release of the 2014 Chateau Musar Red wine which is now , seven years post harvest , literally just being released for purchase onto the UK market . It is retailing at around the £ 145 + vat mark for a case of six bottles ( i . e . in the region of £ 28 / 29 a bottle including vat ). For a wine of this stature , of this maturity and of this quality and finesse – this is nothing short of a bargain .
Recently I have been finishing off the 1998 and 1999 Chateau Musar Red wines . The 1998 is a wonderfully light , almost perfumed , red wine . Despite this it has depth and length with earthiness , some smoke and light smooth tannins . It remains , even at nearly 23 years of age , fresh and a wine with lovely red fruit . It has a lovely softness to it . The 1999 is deeper red in colour , with red fruit , black fruit and cassis all on show . It is much richer than the 1998 , but again with smooth , elegant , tannins . Some tobacco , herbal notes and some spice . Wonderfully complex and balanced . So , here , two very different wines , one year apart , from the same producer ; but a good example of how different the wines can be – here most likely explained by the fact that the 1998 contained a large amount of cinsault , whereas the 1999 vintage was a cabernet sauvignon dominated vintage . One almost feminine and the other more masculine perhaps .
Aside from the fabulous Chateau Musar Red there is another red wine , although not a second wine in the true sense of the word . This is the Hochar Père et Fils Red , made from a blend of cinsault , grenache and cabernet sauvignon from a single vineyard near the Bekaa Valley village of Aana . Not totally dissimilar to the Chateau Musar Red this is oak aged for only nine months , takes four years ( not seven ) to release in bottle following harvest , is a wine that can be drunk younger and is roughly half the price of the Chateau Musar Red . This newer red wine was launched in 1989 .
In addition to the reds , there is a also a lovely white wine on offer too . As with the Chateau Musar Red , this is again seven years in the making . It is made from a blend of two ancient grape varieties called obaideh ( a relative of the chardonnay grape ) and merwah ( a relative of the semillon grape ). Both are indigenous grapes to the mountains of Lebanon . Unlike some , but not all , white wines the Chateau Musar White wine has the capacity to improve with age .
Then there is the Chateau Musar Rose . The Chateau ’ s own website refers to this as a ‘ softly-oaked tribute to the blended rosés of Champagne , a style much enjoyed by Serge Hochar ’.
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