Chateau Musar Rouge 2012
(Bekaa Valley, Lebanon)

About the wine:

2012 was an interesting year of contrasts as January and February were extremely cold and snowy, April proved fresh and rainy giving a boost for the opening of the buds. In early May, all the vineyards were astonishingly green with many small buds. June was very hot indeed but the vines withstood this and flowering occurred with such success that we were expecting a big harvest this year. A very hot July followed with 10 days of heat wave with temperatures of 39°C and 40°C – this caused the vines to tire and green leaves turned pale, even yellow in some places, almost as if October was early and causing the harvest to be much smaller than we had initially hoped.

Grape Varietals: An equal blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault, Carignan

Winemaking: Sugar content rose dramatically but acidity remained high. Our red grapes were mostly harvested by vineyard and rarely by grape variety – Cabernet Sauvignon and Cinsault were first picked during the last week of August from Kefraya vineyards, followed by Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon from Aana and towards the end of the harvest, the other vineyards of Carignan and Cinsault were picked from there. Red fermentation was difficult this year due to different levels of grape maturation. Some vats fermented very slowly with others much faster but in both cases, the results were very promising. This vintage was blended in February 2015 and bottled during the summer of 2015.

Alcohol: 14.8%

Tasting Notes:

Chateau Musar Red 2012 has a dark burgundy colour, a nose of matured stone fruits, plums and figs with liquorice and spicy notes. It has big developed ripe fruit on the nose and a bold taste profile of juicy, black fruits plus mocha and leather and a beautiful lingering finish.

Ratings & Reviews:

"An equal blend of Cinsault, Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon, from a bakingly hot vintage, it has all the Musar hallmarks of rich, ripe, savoury fruit backed by an underlying sweetness and softness." – Jonny Ray, The Spectator, March 2019

"The Hochar family has turned out an exceptional 2012 vintage of their flagship wine. Deep in colour, intensely smoky and spicy with black fruit, full body and a finish that lasts and lasts. Unmistakably Musar in style and personality, it is immediately appealing but will age gracefully over the next 10 to 15 years." – The Wine Society, June 2019

"Dense red, still very young and thick ‘legs’ on the glass showing richness to come, the nose still quite closed with autumnal black stone fruits which show exuberance and spice on the palate with almost a sweet warmth of texture from a small, late and naturally concentrated harvest, not ready yet and needing to lose its ‘puppy fat’ and move into its second decade to show its vineyard character to the full." – Steven Spurrier, September 2019