Lebanese vintage chart??

For one's person's views, see:

Mark Lipton

While it doesn't contain a vintage chart, I found this site useful when I was trying to decide when to open a 1995 Musar. HTH

I have two bottles of the white 1994 in the cellar and I was wondering if anyone has any comments on it. The two sites listed in this thread seemed to concentrate on the reds. Thanks.

Ken

I don't recall the prices, but the restaurant was at the Westin Hotel on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

I opened my last bottle of 1994 white last week while one of my sons was visiting. We found a wine that was so thin it tasted like a diluted Chardonnay. To avoid it being totally wasted, I used some of it the following evening when making a rissoto. Sojourner

No idea about a vintage chart, but I have the impression that the Lebanese climate allows for few variations.Wine list in restaurants in Lebanon itself usually do not specify the vintage, so...

As I had the opportunity to visit Château Musar's winery last April, I have learned a few things that might be of interest to you:

- their reds always benefit from decanting (up to two hours for younger vintages)

- their white wine should not be drunk chilled, but at cellar temperature (12°c seem very fine, please convert it into Fahrenheit yourself). The 1998 is drinking very well now.

- when it comes to matching their wines with food, the owners discourage having them with mezzé as the wine might be overwhelmed by the variety of strong flavors.

Hope this helps

Yves

Thanks for the (somewhat sad) news. I'll open my bottles as soon as possible and see how mine compare with yours. I don't feel too bad as I was given these two gratis by my wine shop a few months ago. Thanks.

You may find something of interest on the Chateau Musar UK web site. It has various tasting notes, etc. It's at

Had some of the 91 on Sunday. Still very Musar-y but getting rather short and tiring rapidly in the glass. Looks like it may now be a "drink up" vintage.

James James Dempster (remove nospam to reply by email)

You know you've had a good night when you wake up and someone's outlining you in chalk.

Well, thanks! After checking out the site yesterday right before leaving work, I picked up a '95 Red on the way home (was going to the wine store anyway) since it was fresh in mind when my eyes met up with the word LEBANON. They had only one bottle of the '95, and several of other vintages, so I opted to buy the '95. I thought I'd have it Sunday with a lamb dish I'll be preparing. When I got home, my wife informed me that we were invited to the neighbor's for dinner. When I heard that they were having shish-kabobs, I knew it would be appropriate to bring a red. The only other non-cellared red in the house was a Shiraz, and I wanted something at room-temp. Also, my wife had already discovered my purchase and asked if I thought it would go good with lamb.

It was very.... intersting. Someone here used the word "Musar-y" the other day, and now I know what they were talking about. The various flavors that are present seemed flat, not be as well integrated as in a Bordeaux. At first, I saw that as a turn-off because - while tasting it - it struck me as somewhat harsh. But the sweetness seemed to mellow that out somehow and the aftertaste made me forget any unpleasantness all together, and begged for another taste. And with each taste, it became less intimidating, and with each taste I started noticing flavors that didn't seem to be present just 30 seconds earlier.

And as the review suggests, it goes very well with grilled lamb (and so says my neighbor who hardly ever drinks red wine, always "just a little"; this time I had to guzzle just to keep up with him; thankfully, his wife couldn't have any due to medicine, and my wife is nursing our baby, so only had one glass).

I will definitely seek out more bottles of the '95 Red in the future.