The Paris of the Middle East
Great new vintages from Lebanon’s Chateau Musar are
ripe for discovery, as Joelle Thomson explains...
Lebanon. Famous for delicious food, intricate architecture, ancient castles, ski fields and inflation that makes the Great Depression look like a walk in the park.
Food shortages, electricity blackouts for up to 23 hours a day, struggling health and education systems, a fuel crisis, water shortages and 90% erosion of the country’s currency since 2019 all combine to make life tough in this country, which also happens to have one of the longest winemaking histories on earth, stretching back 6,000 years.
In amongst all the trials and tribulations, Lebanon’s most famous winery, Chateau Musar, remains defiantly strong and producing outstanding maverick wines, several of which are now available in New Zealand through distributor Negociants NZ.
“Chateau Musar, just north of Beirut, is one of the world’s most inspiring wine producers right now.”
These latest wines were shown to small groups from the local wine trade in New Zealand earlier this year and were fantastic.
Chateau Musar is one of the world’s most inspiring wine producers right now because it continues to make incredible wines from classic French grape varieties that defy all the typical descriptions of Syrah, Cinsault, Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon. They must confound winemakers in countries such as France and Italy, whose wines bear the strongest resemblance to the non-traditional blends made by Musar today.
Its wines remind me most strongly of a hybrid style of top quality Côtes du Rhône and very good wine from Piemonte in north west Italy. There is an earthiness aligned with powerful red fruit flavours, only without the tartness that is often present with that flavour spectrum.
The vineyards of Chateau Musar represent a style that expresses the place in which they grow. The high altitude climate in the Beqaa Valley makes it one of the coldest areas in Lebanon. Days are warm, nights are cool and rainfall is extremely low with 230 millimetres a year.
The valley is the country’s most important farming region and is situated 40 kilometres east of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. Chateau Musar’s home is an old castle in Ghazir, just north of Beirut and a couple of hours’ drive from the vineyards.
Beirut was once described as “the Paris of the Middle East” and the country’s wines live up to all that suggests. Let’s hope the country also returns to its former glory.
The story of Chateau Musar
Musar was founded in 1930 by Gaston Hochar Snr, who trained in winemaking in Bordeaux and was inspired by the 6,000-year history of winemaking in Lebanon. He planted his first vines in the Beqaa Valley in 1929 using French grape varieties, and today Chateau Musar has about 180 hectares of vines. By way of comparison, Lebanon’s biggest wine producer has about 2,500 hectares of producing vineyard land, which is about half the size of Hawke’s Bay’s vineyard area.
Chateau Musar wines are available through Negociants NZ. At the time of writing, the latest vintages were scheduled to arrive in New Zealand in late July.
Joelle Thomson is a journalist, wine writer and author.
