Lebanon

Chateau Musar is an amazing winery located in Lebanon.  This is their introductory value wine.  It is a blend of Cinsault, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon from a single vineyard with vines averaging 30 years of age.  Purple in color with ruby hues, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cherries, black cherries, balsamic (volatile acidity?), black olives and black raspberries.  Complex.  Ripe.  Medium bodied.  Medium tannins.  Nice balance.  On the palate, black cherries, black raspberries and a bit of raisin.  Long finish.  For the money, this is a great value.  This is drinking well now

This had been given a long decant (5 hours) and then double decanted back into the bottle.  It was just right.  Really an awesome showing for this wine.  It is a blend of 1/3 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1/3 Cinsault, and 1/3 Carignan.  Purple/ruby in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has just a touch of volatile acidity which really serves to lift the aromas.  There is also some Brettanomyces (barnyard notes) but not really much to speak of.  Also, plenty of cassis, cherries, red currants, dust and spice.  Full bodied.  Light tannins but mostly resolved.  Bright acidity.  On the palate, th

Sitting in a wine bar in Charlotte, NC, I got up to peruse the shelves and found a single bottle of this for $80.  Despite it's youth, the opportunity could not be passed up.  It is an equal blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Cinsault from vineyards near the Bekaa Valley villages of Aana and Kefraya on gravelly soils over limestone.  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose seemed very clean with black cherries, cassis, slight char and vanilla.  Medium tannins.  Full bodied.  Good balance.  On the palate, cassis and black cherries with underlying spice and slight cho

This is a second wine of Chateau Musar.   It is a blend of Cinsault (50%), Grenache (35%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (15%). Purple in color, ruby at the rim with some browning.  Dusty with black cherries on the nose.  The palate has a nice texture.  Black cherry fruit with a dry earthiness.  Tannic.  This has a nice complexity that indicates there is some upside to this wine.  It should improve a bit and be good for the next seven to ten years.  It should go well with stews or burgers or even pastas.  

Chateau Musar is one of the great wineries of the world.  Add to that the idea of making wine in Lebanon and its even more remarkable.  This wine is outstanding.

This is a 50/50 Syrah/Cabernet Sauvignon blend from the Bekaa valley in Lebanon.  It is a reasonably priced wine and well worth the price of admission.  Purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, spice and a bit of char.  On the palate, this is tasty with black raspberry fruit.  This is about easy drinking in the near term.  No tannins.  It probably needs to be drunk soon at this point (it is already six years old).  It will go with a wide variety of foods.  Obviously mid-eastern foods come to mind, but it will work well with Indian foods too.