Chateau Musar 2016

Chateau Musar Red, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, 2016   

An equal blend of hand-harvested, organic Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Cinsault, produced originally by master winemaker Serge Hochar.

40 year old vines grown on gravelly soil over limestone at 1000m altitude. Natural yeast fermentation in concrete vats. The wine spent a year in French Nevers oak barrels before being bottled, unfined & unfiltered, with minimal sulphur additions. Only released around seven years after the harvest. 

Our 2016 vintage is deep ruby in colour with high viscosity. Red cherries, plums, carob and figs dominate the nose with a hint of eastern spice. Kirsch and plums follow through to the palate with blackcurrant and chocolate. The tannins are velvety soft and this wine has a lot of depth and fruit concentration with a long finish.

The 2016 harvest showed without a doubt, that global warming is causing higher annual temperatures and at the same time, successive years of low rainfall have resulted in drier soils. Clearly, these factors may affect maturation of the grapes as well as the wine-making process but for 2016, with the much needed rainfall and almost perfect climatic conditions, we have high expectations for this vintages’ future for decades to come

Drink with richer, fattier meats like duck or a ribeye steak