W L
THE CURIOUS QUAFFER
CHATEAU MUSAR
When asked about wine , particularly fine wine , we can all probably name any number of countries that produce the same . But how many of you would have Lebanon on your list ?
About 15 miles north of Beirut , the capital city of Lebanon , you will discover the village of Ghazir . Here you will find one of the world ’ s greatest wineries , producing some of the world ’ s greatest fine wines . For those of you who have never come across it before – welcome to the great winery that is Chateau Musar .
The Chateau Musar story is a remarkable one . Around the world are wineries , and wine growers , that have had to cope with many issues and problems that can , from one year to the next , affect or , in some cases , decimate a crop or harvest ( hail , too much sun , too little sun , humidity , disease , wild fires , plummeting temperatures , too much rain , too little rain – the list goes on ). Yet none of these wineries can add to this list a period of some 15 years of civil war . Such is the remarkable story of Chateau Musar , during this bloody conflict , that one commentator has remarked that : “ Where some wineries find dealing with excess rainfall a challenge , Chateau Musar once had to contend with hailstorms of shrapnel ’.
Despite great adversity over the years , despite producing wine in a country that was ravaged by civil war between 1975 and 1990 and despite all those involved often working under extremely high risk conditions to produce wine , Chateau Musar has managed to produce wine every year , with the exception of the 1976 vintage . The other two slight exceptions to the rule were 1984 and 1992 . In 1984 harvest was only possible during a brief break in shelling , during the war , and then at a time when the normal passage from vineyard back to the winery was blocked . As a result , only two truckloads of grapes were picked , which then had to take very long , tortuous , journeys back to the winery . On arrival the grapes had already started fermenting . As a result , only two vats of wine were produced . The vintage was never released commercially , subsequently being sold to private collectors and connoisseurs many years later . In 1992 wine was produced , but the Chateau Musar red was declassified due to a poor vintage . Apart from this wine has not only been made , but has been sold commercially from the winery in every year . A remarkable story and accomplishment .
The winery itself was established back in 1930 by the visionary Gaston Hochar . He was later succeeded by his two sons , Ronald and Serge Hochar . It was in 1959 that Serge became the Chateau Musar winemaker , a position he held until his sad death in 2014 . A great man , a great winemaker and , in 1984 , a man who was voted Decanters first ever ‘ Man of the Year ’, recognising his total commitment and dedication to producing phenomenal wines during Lebanon ’ s bloody civil war . Despite his death , his legacy lives on in the capable hands of his two sons , Gaston ( managing the day to day running of the winery ) and Marc ( responsible for the commercial side of the business ) along with Ronald and his son Ralph . A family business , a family success story from the beginning – but one that has never ended and remains an ongoing success story in every sense of the word .
Any search on the internet will inform you of remarkable stories about the winery and the family , their journey , their winery and their wines . One such story recounts one of the days when shells rocked Serge Hochar ’ s Beirut apartment . Refusing to go down to a bomb shelter , he stayed at home and opened a bottle of one of his favourite vintages of Chateau Musar Red , then settled down with a good book . At the conclusion of the days assault , on the city , his apartment was still standing – but the bottle was , apparently , empty ! The winery today produces , and has been for many , many years been producing , outstanding fine wine , in every sense of the word . The wines have been described as both a ‘ bewitching creation ’ and the fabled Chateau Musar Red as the ‘ Lafite ’ of Lebanon .
Most of the grapes used for producing the Chateau ’ s fabulous wines come from vineyards in the Bekaa Valley ; a
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