Musar 1999 - it rocks

After mentioning Musar 2000 on my blog yesterday, I got some comments from people whose opinions I trust suggesting that 1999 is the vintage to go for. I've not tried this, so this afternoon, after watching England's heroic performance against the Aussies (how I regret not taking up the freebie ticket/flight/hotel option I was offered last week...but sometimes you have to put the family first) and taking elder son and friend to the golf range, I popped into Sainsbury, where I managed to find some 99 lurking behind a large quantity of 2000. (Yes, journalists sometimes do buy wine...)

It rocks. It's harmonious, complex, exotic and more-ish. If all you see in Musar is the wine 'faults', then you need to take a step back and think about wine afresh. This is world class wine, and it's only £13.99.

Chateau Musar 1999 Bekaa Valley, Lebanon
Complex savoury spicy nose shows so much aromatic interest, it's hard to know where to begin. There's leather, earth, a hint of balsamic vinegar, warm spices and some sweet red fruits. The palate is warm and harmonious, with a lovely sweet and savoury sort of character. It's full, earthy and spicy with a bit of bitter tang like a stinky cheese. In fact, I reckon people who don't get Musar are a bit like people who will only eat plastic-packed cheddar and find goats cheese offensive. Anyway, this is soft, warm, mellow and complex. A really good vintage of this wine in the mould of the 1993 or 1991. This has a 20-30 year drinking window, because it's lovely now but will continues to develop for ages. 93/100

Musar 99

Love it or hate it, there's nothing like Chateau Musar, the iconic Lebanese red. I happen to like it a lot, while recognizing that a typical bottle of the stuff would make an ideal wine to pour at a wine faults clinic. But, amazingly, the melange of odd flavours in Musar usually work together, to produce a complex, ageworthy red wine in almost every vintage. That Musar ages well was testified to by the impressive array of bottles present at a wine geek 'offline' dinner a couple of years back, dubbed the Musarathon.

What about 1999? I'm happy to report that this is a fine vintage of Musar. An it's still well priced (in the USA this is much, much pricier).

Chateau Musar 1999 Bekaa Valley, Lebanon
Red with a bricking rim it has a slightly volatile nose showing lifted, earthy, spicy, rather baked fruit. The palate is warm, mouthfilling, spicy and dry with lots of sweet spicy elements and a slightly metallic tang on the finish. Nicely complex and rather funky. The tannins have softened such that they're almost non-existent in terms of providing structure. Very good/excellent 91/100 (£13.75 Waitrose)