Château Musar - White 2016
Château Musar is located in the Bekaa Valley , Lebanon . It was created by Gaston Hochar in 1930 when he was only 20 years old and was inspired by the 6,000-year-old winemaking tradition of Lebanon and his travels to Bordeaux. Serge Hochar, his son, started producing wines at the end of 1950. His brother, Ronald, joined him in the early 1960s. In 1975, 97% of the production was sold locally. This changed after the Bristol Wine Fair in 1979 and by 1990, at the end of the Civil War, export accounted for 97% of production. The 3rd generation of the Hochar family started participating in 1994 and is still a family business . Today, 85% of production is sold for export . They produce 700,000 bottles a year.
The vineyard extends over 200 hectares of vines, between two mountain ranges that protect from the humidity of the Mediterranean Sea and the heat of the Syrian desert. They produce 75% red wine, 15% white, 5% rosé and 5% arrack. Most of the vineyard (90%) is located in the Bekaa Valley at 1,000 meters above sea level. All red production is in the southwest of the Bekaa.
A style change was initiated by Serge Hochar and in 1995 the volatile acids which were around 0.75/0.85 were reduced to 0.75/0.80 as this can be considered "negative" when the volatile acids are greater than 0.80 in the short term. Climate change has affected the grapes, so they have changed the harvest date and harvest the grapes only when ripe. Gaston Hochar and his brothers develop small vineyards, with new plantations but without changing style or name. The wines are always the result of the same blends. They also increase the capacity of the cellar for young entry-level wines. Their philosophy is to keep the prices low for their loyal customers, as they sell their wines to amateurs since they consider the wines of Lebanon to be not very famous.
Château Musar Blanc 2016 is a blend of local grape varieties: Obaideh (60%) and Merwah (40%) , reputed ancestors of Chardonnay, Chasselas and Sémillon, and grown from vines not grafted from the original rootstock. The Merwah was fermented and aged in new Nevers oak barrels for 9 months on the lees and the Obaideh was fermented in stainless steel tanks : two different fermentation methods to match the two different characteristics of the grape. The malolactic fermentation took place. The wine was blended and bottled in the summer of 2017 after cold stabilization and the vintage was released in 2022 after 6 years of ageing .
Grapes: 60% Obaideh, 40% Merwah
