Chateau Musar

Gaston Hochar

Most of Château Musars vineyards are located in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, cradled between two mountain ranges. Vines have been cultivated here for at least 6,000 years: the Phoenicians were instrumental in bringing vines and wines from Byblos across to all of the areas around the Mediterranean. In youth, Château Musar Reds are dense and richly-textured, with intense ‘baked fruit’ characters: plums, damsons, cranberries, cherries, figs and dates. Bordeaux grape Cabernet Sauvignon lends black fruit flavours; Rhône grapes Cinsault and Carignan contribute fragrance (violets; pepper) and supple spiciness. Either set of qualities might dominate a particular vintage, but the style is always emphatically Lebanese: enticingly aromatic, with persistent fruit flavours. Over decades the wines acquire tawny hues and mellow notes.