The
wines of Massaya, Lebanon
Part
2 of a series on Lebanese wine
Massaya is a French–Lebanese collaboration that began as
recently as 1998. On the Lebanese side is Sami Ghosn, who was the
owner of the Tanaïl Estate where the vineyards hail from, which is
located at an altitude of 1000 m in the Bekaa valley. The French
partners are an illustrious bunch Daniel Brunier (Vieux Télégraph),
Hubert de Boüard de Laforest (ex-Cheval Blanc) and Dominique Hebrard
(Château Angélus co-proprietor). The first release was from the 1999
vintage, and these are clearly wines that have a good deal of ambition
to them.
I was very impressed with the 2000 and 2001 vintages of the
Reserve red, and the Selection 2001 was brilliant, too. They are
forward wines that have plenty of upfront fruit, and are approachable
young. If your only experience of Lebanese wines has been Musar, then
you’ll find that Massaya is quite different. It will be interesting
to see what happens to them with a bit of age.
Massaya Selection Blanc de Blancs 2001 Bekaa
Fresh crisp nose: fruity with some class. The palate is bright and
fresh with good balance and a nice minerality. Good balance is the key
here. Very good+ 89/100
Massaya Classic Rosé 2001
99% Cinsault. Quite deep coloured with a soft, herby character
with a hint of sweetness to the fruit. Very good 84/100
Massaya
‘Classic’ red 2001
Really appealing meaty, spicy nose with rich chocolatey fruit.
Really lovely meaty, spicy fruit on the palate. A soft-ish sort of
wine but quite beguiling; in a modern style but with lots of
character. Very good/excellent 90/100
Massaya ‘Selection’ red 2001
A blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Shiraz and Cabernet aged in one
year old barriques. Very deep coloured. Perfumed, meaty, spicy nose
with a lovely black fruit character, and almost an animally edge. The
palate shows a good density of intensely savoury fruit. Very spicy and
rich. Lovely stuff. Very good/excellent 91/100
Massaya ‘Selection’ red 1999
Quite evolved already, with a soft leathery, herby edge to the
berry fruit nose. Nice density, but drink up soon, I’d say. Very
good+ 86/100
Massaya ‘Reserve’ red 2000
A blend of Cabernet and Mourvèdre aged in new oak. Firm,
exotically fruited spicy nose with a lovely savoury, meaty spiciness.
The palate is firm and meaty with green olive and spice notes,
together with some herbal, almost animal notes. Very distinctive.
92/100
Massaya ‘Reserve’ red 2001
Distinctive spicy, meaty, animal-like nose with chocolatey
blackcurrant fruit. Nice spicy, gamey palate with lovely savoury
structure. Quite a big, individual wine. Very good/excellent 92/100
Massaya ‘Reserve’ red 2000
Warm southern spices on the nose complementing the dark fruits.
The palate is quite open with leathery, earthy spicy notes and some
good minerally structure. Interesting, but I think I like them
younger. Very good+ 88/100
see
also: Part 1: Musarathon - a vertical tasting
of Musar spanning three decades
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