Winding up at a cool wine bar for a Tinder date is never bad. If the date goes to shit at least I can drink some good stuff. Fortunately this wasn't the case as the girl was cool, but the bar did have some interesting bottles. There was a promotion for Chateau Musar since Serge Hochar, the winemaker, passed earlier this week. It felt kind of like the Dark Knight's use of Heath Ledger's death to hype the film, and that is ok with me. I had heard about Musar on here a while back. It sounded right up my alley and I have been wanting to try it.
Chateau Musar Hochar Pere et Fils 2009 is what we drank. I couldn't get any pics for the sweet karma as lighting isn't allowed apparently(probably to enable catfishing on Tinder dates). This song is a good musical representation of my experience with the wine. Listen to it and tell me how wrong I am in the comments.
Blurb from the website:
Hochar Père et Fils Red is sometimes mistakenly referred to as the ‘second wine’ of Chateau Musar but this is not an accurate description. It is actually sourced from a single vineyard planted over 50 years ago at 1,000 metres above sea level near the village of Aana in the Bekaa Valley, characterised by deep, gravelly soil over a limestone base. Low yields (25-30 hectolitres per hectare) result in concentrated, complex wines and the altitude keeps the average yearly temperature at around 25 ºC, encompassing snowy winters, mild springs and hot summers.
As with all vintages of Hochar Père et Fils, the 2009 vintage is comprised mostly of Cinsault, Grenache, with Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes were fermented at temperatures ranging from 27 to 30ºC, with 15 to 20 days maceration in cement vats, followed by 9 months in French Nevers oak barrels. Most unusually we experienced rain during the harvest in September and 2009 ended up being a truly memorable year in Lebanon and a vintage of two halves – before and after the rain! Fortunately most of the red grapes had been gathered in: rich, concentrated and beautifully balanced. Blending took place in the spring of 2011 and bottled later on that year.
Notes:
The splash poured for my approval was hints of red fruit with unavoidable volatile acidity. I knew to expect this and figured that as the wine opened everything would be ok, but I was nervous this girl was gonna flip out.
Color- Dark ruby with a depth hinting at all it contained.
Nose- I swirled the wine around for a bit while having the typical first date conversations. Within 15 minutes the wine had opened up and the VA had resolved to a welcome part of the ensemble of notes I was getting. An enticing sea of black and red fruit aromas with swirls of chocolate and spices had me giddy to taste the wine, though I wondered if the palate could equal these smells. Occasionally I would notice fleeting hints of underlying notes that I think will come forward with more age. It had some port likeness.
Palate- I was not let down. Very smooth/round juicy mouthfeel. Jammy fruits everywhere: cranberry, black cherry, strawberry, and others I couldnt distinguish. The chocolate notes persist with spices, earthy notes, and oak. Every sip is a joy and brings new notes/hints of white may show up over the years as some of the fruit pulls back.
Intense and vibrant are how I would describe this wine. It's vigor and complexity reminded me of some Scholium Project wines though the numerous things going on in this wine really come together and integrate superbly. Acid and tannin were perfectly balanced.
Strong and excellent. Highly recommended. I really look forward to trying more of these wines and seeing how they age.
submitted by Muppet_Mower
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from Worlds Great Wines http://ift.tt/1yQflXq
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