Wines Unspecified Château Musar Bekaa Valley (Gaston Hochar) - Chateau Musar - 2017

Château Musar from the Bekaa Valley is widely recognised as one of Lebanon’s most iconic wines, with a well-deserved international reputation for individuality and longevity. The 2017 vintage, presented here in magnum, is a red wine composed in Musar’s unmistakable house style. While exact blending details can vary from year to year, a classic Musar red often combines indigenous and international grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault, and Carignan, though the precise composition for this vintage and cuvée may differ. The wine is known to be crafted with minimal intervention: after fermentation in cement vats, it is matured in French oak barrels before an extended period in bottle, ensuring deep complexity and the ability to evolve gracefully over time.

The Bekaa Valley, nestled between the Mount Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountain ranges, is a region of stark natural beauty and ideal winegrowing conditions. Its high altitude provides cooler nights which preserve freshness and acidity, while the abundant sunshine ensures ample ripening of the grapes. The soils, a mixture of gravel and limestone, impart a notable minerality and elegance to the wines. Lebanese viticulture boasts a long and storied history, dating back thousands of years to Phoenician times, and Château Musar has played a key role in the modern renaissance of the region’s wine industry since its founding in the 1930s.

Château Musar tends to yield wines of impressive depth, with a spectrum of red and black fruit, exotic spice, earthy undertones, and a distinctively Mediterranean character. This magnum from 2017 would be a superb match for slow-roasted lamb with Lebanese spices, braised aubergine, tagines, or hearty casseroles featuring pulses and aromatic herbs. Age-worthy and complex, it also partners beautifully with mature hard cheeses and roasted root vegetables.

For optimal enjoyment, decanting is recommended to allow the wine to open up fully, especially given the magnum format and natural sedimentation over time. Serve at 16-18°C, ideally after an hour or more in the decanter, to appreciate the intricate layers and evolving aromas that make Château Musar such a distinctive treasure of the Lebanese winemaking tradition.