I love Chateau Musar, the great wine estate of Lebanon.
I am filled with admiration at the Hochar family’s bravery and determination to make wine in what has often been a troubled country.
No wine was made by Musar in 1976, and in 1984 the grapes had already fermented in the lorry by the time it reached the winery, such was the long (and perilous) detour that had to be made from Bekaa to Ghazir.
Things were a bit quieter in 1997. The late Serge Hochar – Musar’s winemaker, who I never met but I did meet his brother Ronald – described the 1997 wines as “Very, very beautiful… big and perfectly balanced… Definitely a vintage to follow very closely”.
Arden has good stock of the 1997 Chateau Musar, as well as 1998, 2000, and 2003.
Musar is invariably a great glass of wine and outstanding value for money.
Please drop us a line – email or WhatsApp or order online – and let us know what vintage of Musar you’d like to drink.
أجازة سعيدةas they say on the Edgware Road, round the corner from Arden’s Brook Street office.
(= bon weekend.)