Château Musar

Château Musar is the most famous winery Lebanon. Also, the top product of this winery, a remarkable, outstanding in some years, red wine, named Château Musar. This wine was known in 1979, when he was rated on a wine fair in England almost unanimously with very high grades.

The winery was founded in 1930 by Frenchman Gaston Hochar in dating from the 18th century castle Mzar, near the town of Ghazir, about 25 kilometers north-east of Beirut. Own vineyards, the winery does not own, but have pressed grapes to the winery some contractually bound winegrowers from the Bekaa Valley. Both tillering and agricultural methods are subject to the management of the winery. The vineyards spread over about 130 hectares; the individual vineyards are scattered to about 1000 meters altitude on gravelly limestone soils. The yield per hectare of the now with an average of 40 years standing in their prime vines is very limited with about 25 hectoliters.

Today, directs the founder's son, Serge, a trained oenologist in Bordeaux as winemaker for the company whose brother Ronald is responsible for finance and marketing. The cellaring operation complies with the latest standards, is vinified in the classic Bordeaux style. The wines are not filtered or fined.

Flagship product of the winery is the red Château Musar, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault, Carignan and a small amount of Syrah, the composition can vary greatly from year to year. Each variety ripens up to two years in French oak barrels, only in the third year, the varieties are blended in different, dependent on the variety characteristic percentages. Before a Château Musar goes on sale, it is aged for at least four years in the bottle. The Château Musar is a dark, voluminous wine with most pronounced tannins. He is always an excellent wine that is often compared with good Bordeaux, even if it is not intrinsically the same extent the sophistication and elegance of these wines. The wine is excellent shelf life and comes only after about 10 years at its peak.

In addition to this top-quality product, the winery marketed more remarkable red and white wines and brandies, such as at least three times burned L' Arack de Musar. These is the white Chateau Musar, which is made from grapes native vines, namely the Obaideh and Merwah. Even this White wine, which also has severe nut nuances with fresh aromas of lime and lemongrass, is aging very well.