Chateau Musar whites are truly unique, produced from some of the oldest vineyard sites in the world dating back to 5,000 BC, although it was the Phoenicians, the great maritime race of the Mediterranean, who first ‘introduced’ Lebanese wine to a wider audience. Indigenous ancient grape varieties Obaideh and Merwah, reputedly the ancestors of Chardonnay/Chasselas and Semillon are still cultivated from un-grafted vines on original rootstock. The vineyards on the seaward facing slopes of Mount Lebanon and the foothills of Anti-Lebanon were planted between 50 and 90 years ago and are at 1,200 metres above sea level – few vineyards of this calibre and history remain in the world today.
Grape Varieties:
Obaideh 60% Merwah 40%
Vineyard Region:
Mount Lebanon slopes
Winemaking:
The 2012 vintage was fermented and aged partly in new oak barrels for 9 months and partly in stainless steel vats with temperatures ranging between 18 and 22 degrees Celsius. Vintage release in 2020 – cellared well it will keep for decades.
Tasting Notes:
“Fine lemon-yellow, bright and still fresh-looking but also showing some reassuring maturity; dry honey on the nose, dry spices with a controlled richness of fruit on the palate that reminds me of Ygrec: complex and dry with sweetness in its DNA before natural acidity lifts the slightly exotic aftertaste on the finish; lanolin smooth in texture but not an easy wine to assess and not meant to be at this stage, gains familiarity after a while, but the mystery of young white Musar remains for another day. 2020-35”
Steven Spurrier, January 2020
