Château Musar - Château Musar red 2001

Château Musar Château Musar red 2001 (92 TSW)
A couple of months I tasted the 1998 vintage. This 2001 vintage had slightly more primary flavors and aromas.

From Cabernet Sauvignon, Carginan and Cinsault grapes, picked at an altitude of one kilometer in the Bekaa Valley. They ferment - and oxidize light, that's Musar's secret - in concrete containers. The wine is aged in French oak barrels for one year, is not filtered and remains at the Chateau for another seven years.

My tasting notes:

In the glass a bright ruby red color.
On the medium(++) nose aromas of blackberries, cherries and sweet black fruit with hints of cedar, leather, cinnamon, spices and mushrooms.
On the palate dry, medium(+) bodied with medium acidity and silky tannins. Flavours of black cherries, red fruit, toast and chocolate with a fantastic long aftertaste.

Chateau Musar is located in an area where viticulture is more than 6,000 years old: the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. The company's 180 hectares of vineyards lie approximately 30 kilometers south of Beirut, between two mountain ranges. The grapes grow at a height of around 1000 meters, the white ones at around 1500 meters. They are rooted in stony soils with limestone and pebbles.

The climate is hot, sunny and dry, with fresh mountain winds and cold nights. Good for the grapes, which can mature calmly and healthily and build up fresh acids. It is a perfect place for nature-friendly viticulture; Chateau Musar was Lebanon's first certified organic wine domain. The grapes are harvested by hand and fermented naturally. The wines remain unfiltered and the amount of added sulphite is minimal.

Founder Gaston Hochar started this special company in the early thirties in Ghazir, on the other side of Beirut. Over time, modern wine cellars were built, which regularly had to serve as an air raid shelter. His children and grandchildren continue Gaston's work. In particular, his late son Serge has put Chateau Musar on the map worldwide and has given Lebanese viticulture a big boost with his intense, long-lived wines.