2000 Chateau Musar (Bottle - 1/75cl)

Seven years in the making, Chateau Musar Red is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Cinsault from vineyards near the Bekaa Valley villages of Ammiq, Aana and Kefraya on gravelly soils over limestone. Planted from the 1930s onwards, yields are low from these mature bushvines (average age: 40 years): 35hl per hectare. In youth, Chateau Musar Reds are dense and richly-textured, with intense ‘baked fruit’ characteristics. Bordeaux grape Cabernet Sauvignon lends black fruit flavours. Either set of qualities might dominate a particular vintage, but the style is always emphatically Lebanese: enticingly aromatic, with persistent fruit flavours. Over decades the wines acquire tawny hues and mellow notes.