Chateau Musar – Bending Elbows

Musar-fest Spring 2011: USA Left Swimming in Serge Hochar’s Wake

Originally published on March 3, 2011.

Serge Hochar, the man for whom the word legendary is not simply marketing blah blah blah, recently made his annual drive across the US marketplace. During these visits, he hosts wine dinners and holds court at various tastings in various cities. These events usually involve mind-blowing verticals of Chateau Musar’s reds and whites. For a peek behind-the-scenes of one of the NY tastings (and for some background on the Chateau, which I just can’t bear to write. yet. again.) check out David Flaherty’s post at Grapes and Grains.

While the wines themselves are stunning (and the amount of history in the glass is incredible – this time around, Rouge ’00, ’98, ’93, ’83, ’74, ’64, Blanc ’03, ’93, ’80, ’75), the real star of the show is Serge himself. He rarely talks about specifics of the wine. Routine questions about blends, vintage conditions, or flavor profiles are springboards for discussions of philosophy, family, history. To sit in the company of someone so passionate about his work, listening to him tell his stories while drinking in wines that trace the history of your life and beyond – it’s a pretty heady experience. People walk in as fans, or merely curious and leave as disciples. It’s amazing to watch.

In addition to the trade tastings and the dinners, there are also informal lunches, late night bar-nights, and the occasional even later-night margarita. Fans half his age – even a third of his age – find it difficult to keep up. (I tried this time around, and failed miserably, sleeping through a late-night Musar-fest at Anfora in order to preserve myself for a lunch the following day.)

And this was just New York. Prior to arriving, Serge had been in San Francisco, Texas, Denver, Aspen, Boston, and possibly a few other cities. This year, unlike years before, you could follow the great wave of Musar through the Twitter wine community. There was someone spellbound by the reds in California. Then someone in Texas, stunned by their first experience with the whites. Serge quotes tweeted from Boston. One of my own customers stumbling on a tasting in Aspen.

By the time Serge made it to his late-night date with Anfora, the Twitter feeds were swimming in Musar. It was as if the US wine community was at one big, continent-wide week-long wine tasting. A little nuts, a little exhausting, and a testament to one man’s larger-than-life-(and-the-internet) passion.

Holiday Gift Idea #3: Musar 2-Pack

Originally published on December 10, 2010.

A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Look at that price! Fourtheen years later, the a single bottle would cost $90 (which is still not a bad deal, given what these wines are!

This may not come as a surprise, but Frankly Wines is a little obsessed with Chateau Musar, the Lebanese wines with a back story that’s the stuff of legends. Winery and vineyards located in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. Founded in the 1930’s, with wine produced in nearly every harvest despite battles waged among the vines. Cellars that served as bomb shelters in the 80’s. Certain vintages that taste of gunpowder.

What I really like about Chateau Musar is that it tastes like nothing so much as itself. When describing wine to customers, I’ll often compare regions and grapes, like some wino-version of a Hollywood pitch (it’s like a Beaujolais on steroids with a little bit of Shiraz-spice thrown in.) But with Chateau Musar, there are no comparisons. It’s a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, Cinsault and a few other grapes. It’s a constantly evolving mix of exotic spices, stunningly vibrant fruit, earthy, gamey, meatiness. It lasts practically forever and is a classic example of a wine that you want to keep tasting as it changes. You want to grow old together.

If the reds last practically forever, the whites last even longer. They’re best served near room temperature and Serge Hochar, the legendary figurehead of Chateau Musar, insists they’re served after the reds. I certainly can’t disagree.

And that’s just the reds! The whites are just as fascinating – maybe even more so. Made from the Merwah and Obaideh grapes, the wine reminds me a bit of traditional aged white Rioja. Well, not exactly, but it’s in that realm of wines done in a slightly oxidized style. It’s nutty, with notes of caramelized nuts, dried fruits, a bit of honey (but not at all sweet) and exotic church spices. (I can hear you ask, “church spices?” Think incense, the scent of midnight mass, exotic, heady spices.) If the reds last practically forever, the whites last even longer. They’re best served near room temperature and Serge Hochar, the legendary figurehead of Chateau Musar, insists they’re served after the reds. I certainly can’t disagree.

Chateau Musar Rouge 2001: A very classic Musar, with trademark red fruits, spice, tea leaves, and funk are all nicely in balance. It’s drinking nicely now but has the bones to age for a very, very, very long time.

Chateau Musar Blanc 2001: Just a baby, as far as Musar whites go. At this young age, it really is closest to a white Rioja – tightly wound, racy acidity, some citrus, a bit of a waxy texture, exotic spices just starting to reveal themselves. Keep it for about, oh, 50 years and it will really start to show its stuff.

Price: $90

Grand Opening Debrief

Originally published on October 18, 2009.

It’s been almost 2 1/2 years away from the corporate world and my urge to produce Power Point presentations has waned considerably. (Waned….but not disappeared. I’m afraid that may never happen. Ever.) But I still love a good debrief, and last week’s “Grand Opening” is as good an excuse as any.

Key learnings:

1. It’s impossible to throw a party in a 320 square foot store during business hours…and actually do any business. I kind of already knew this, but figured to try it anyway. We close at 8.00pm, but decided to start the party at 7.30pm. Because who actually comes to a party on time? Well, to this party…apparently everyone. By 8.00pm, the store was packed (in 320 square feet, packed = 25 people) and we had to physically drag paying customers through the crowd to the cash register. OK, not really, but it was tough to do business during the party. Not a surprise, really, but a good debrief never shies away from stating the obvious.

2. People never use the spit buckets. Not a new learning. Maybe after the 10th time stating this, I’ll just stop putting them out.

3. You can never have enough glasses. Even if you have 50 glasses for 25 people, somehow, you will run out. This appears to be an immutable law of wine physics.

4. A two-tiered wine offering system sounds like the height of snobbery, but it really is a necessity. I’ve always hated the idea that you pour one wine for the special guests and another for the general population. I’ve been to parties where I was actually invited into a storage closet to partake of the good stuff. But when faced with a store full of thirsty people and only one bottle of 1994 Chateau Musar, a two-tiered system becomes less an exercise in snobbery than plain old common sense.

A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: That Chateau Musar 1994 was really, really good. It was a vintage that had a refermention problem in some bottles. This one, I think had probably done a bit of refermention at some point in it’s 15 year history, but it had worked to its benefit somehow. The wine was almost overtly fruity, even juicy and based on my non-statistically significant sample size of bottles opened, it’s always been a crowd pleaser.

5. People will not leave until you force the issue. Luckily, there are easy ways to do this. 1) Take away the food. 2) Take away the wine. Then, if necessary 3) Turn up the lights and watch the guests scatter like roaches. Voila – party killed in three easy steps.

Debriefing over…next time, perhaps I’ll put together a Power Point presentation.

Frankly Wines – The Grand Opening

Originally published on October 16, 2009.

Sure, it may seem like Frankly Wines has been open for nearly two years. You’ve been able to come in, exchange money for wine, maybe try a sample of whatever we had open. But we were actually in our “soft opening” phase. Restaurants do this all the time. They’re “open” before they’re really open. Some of them, like the Waverly Inn, are still in their preview phase, nearly three years after (not) opening. By that standard, having a grand opening party a mere 22 months after opening can seem a little premature.

But a few weeks ago, we installed the last bit of store décor – a gorgeous stained glass window, created just for Frankly Wines, by artist Alex Bingham. It glows above the cork wall and now that it’s in place, the store finally feels complete.

So we decided to officially declare ourselves open and throw a party….last week. Which means you probably missed it. But never fear, it went well, nothing was broken, and the tiny space somehow lends itself to surprisingly large groups of people. Well, at least 35. So we’ll be coming up with an excuse to do it again. A two-year birthday party? A holiday party? A Turducken festival?

We’ll think of something.

Jura Maybe Not So Obscura Anymore – Hello New York Times!

Originally published on September 22, 2009.

Just 3 weeks ago, I was waxing on about the fabulous wines of the Jura and a 2-Pack I had put together featuring two of them. And what’s due to appear tomorrow in Eric Asimov’s New York Times wine column, “The Pour“? Why, yes! Wines of the Jura!

Ok, obviously Mr. Asimov is not copying my blog. Certain wine regions and grapes have a way of floating around in the rarefied wine-world ether until wine writers, retailers, and sommeliers of a certain bent all seem to pick up on them at the same time. A similar thing happens in the fashion world: somehow, for some odd reason, all the designers wind up showing tiger prints, or tent-like silhouettes, or lines inspired by fairy-tale tapestries.

But it is nice to be first…to feature these wines in-store before they hit the paper. And if my personal obsessions are good indicators of what you’ll see in future New York Times articles, then stay tuned for features on dry muscats, Gemischter Satz wines, very old Chianti and anything alpine. And Chateau Musar…always Chateau Musar!

Consider yourself warned. And remember….you heard it here first.

Lopez de Heredia Rosado….Again?

A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: 6 cases!!! 6 cases!!! These days, ten years later, we get 6 bottles. And that’s only because I whine and cry and tell sad stories about the days when I used to be able to buy 6 cases at a time. 6 CASES!!!

Originally published on September 12, 2009.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve written about Lopez de Heredia before. Their whites, their reds, their aged wines, their younger wines, their roses. In terms of wines and wineries most mentioned on my site, it’s probably a toss up between Lopez and Chateau Musar. If I could stock the store solely with these wines…and make any sort of a profit….I would do it. If anyone has any thoughts as to how this might be possible, please do let me know.

Anyhow…back to my broken record Lopez tendencies. Today, I’m revisiting the Lopez de Heredia Tondonia Rosado…for the 3rd time on the Frankly My Dear blog. I’m excited about this wine (again) because we just brought in 6 cases of the 1998, which is the newest vintages. It’s a little bit more fruit forward than the 1997. But this doesn’t mean it’s fruity. It’s definitely not fruity – and still requires a warning label because of its distinct non-fruitiness. But compared to last year’s version, it’s a bit more tropical. It’s still a holy trinity of funkiness: Fino Sherry tang, exotic spices, and those subtle, almost ghost-like tropical fruits.

Now 6 cases may seem like a lot for a $25 bottle of non-fruity rose. But the most recent shipment from Spain was only 50 cases. Which isn’t a lot. If 20 accounts take 2 cases each (because there’s a 2 case purchases deal, which most stores will by on) than that only leaves 10 remaining cases for a second round of purchases. And without a good sense of when the next shipment will be arriving (October? November) if I took just 2 little cases, there would be a good chance I would be out of stock And this is one of those wines I HATE being out of stock on.

So I sucked up 6 cases. This decision was based on neither cash flow nor margin considerations (the two main factors driving most of my size-of-buy decisions.) It was simply based on wanting to keep this wine in stock. It’s a decision even my accountant would understand.

The Most Quoted Man in the Wine Business?

Originally published on December 30, 2008.

Paul Grieco is a co-owner/wine director at Hearth, Insieme, and his very cool wine bar Terrior. Terrior has one of those wine lists that wine people can spend hours reading. This “reading of the wine list” activity can often be extremely annoying to the dining companions (a.k.a the husband) of certain wine people. This is because most wine lists are exactly that – just big lists of wines. Not so at Terrior – Mr. Grieco’s list is fun, or at least not completely boring, for non-wine people to read. There are pictures and stories and cool fonts, and it’s all bound up in a three-hole punch binder with graffiti scribbles on the front. And the last time I was there, it included an entire page on Chateau Musar, which is the way straight to my heart. So wine people can pour over the actual list, while the non-wine-people-husbands are reading the other stuff.

But I digress.

Mr. Grieco may be the most quoted person in the wine business today. At least the New York wine business. He was quoted by Eric Asimov in last week’s The New York Times “Dining” section. This is when it occurred to me I had seen his name a lot over the past year. And then there he was again, in this week’s “Dining” section, quoted in an article on Sherry by Florence Fabricant. That sealed the deal. Twice in the same publication in one week and a day. If this rate maintains, we’ll see Paul Grieco quotes 52 times in 2009. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing – his quotes are pretty good…quite “quotable”.

New Year’s Resolution #1? To be quoted just once in the New York Times. Or even mentioned…quotes are not even required. Eric Asimov, Florence Fabricant…can you hear me?

Maybe it would help if I actually sent out a press release.

A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: It took a while, but it happened. I’ve been mentioned and quoted in The New York Times more than I can count. OK, that’s a lie. I know exactly how many times I’ve been in the NYT:

The 2010 article about new, cool wine shops
Two different pieces about Serge Hochar and Chateau Musar during his 2012 tour
And finally, starting in 2014, six different Wines of the Times Tasting Panels

And you know what. It never gets old. It. Never. Gets. Old.

More Validation of My Good Taste: Eric Asimov Writes about Lopez de Heredia Whites

Originally published on November 11, 2008.

Oh no, the cat is starting to get out of the bag. Eric Asimov from the NYTimes just wrote about Lopez de Heredia. Sure, everybody seems to write about this particular old school Rioja producer, but they usually go on about the reds. Mr. Asimov writes about their whites. Luckily, he spends more time writing about chicken (fingers and breasts) and football than he does about the wine, but still, the cat is out!

I tried some of the older whites at a tasting and fell so in love that I bought a small stash of vintages from the 80s. I’m a sucker for this style of wine – slightly oxidized, a bit of sherry-like tang coming through, a little bit of nuttiness, almost some waxy notes. Not much in terms of fruit, but somehow, the wines remain incredibly fresh and vibrant. While more exotic, Chateau Musar whites somehow seem to have something in common with LdH blancos. Intrepid Wine Company’s 2005 Asprinio also manages to balance an impression of weight and richness with incredible freshness. I have no idea if this is typical of the Asprinio grape – I’ve only ever had one in my life.

These are all wines for people who say they don’t like white wines. They’re worlds away from Piont Grigio, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc, which may be why they’re so difficult to describe. Even most wine geeks struggle to find words for these weirdly wonderful whites. “Beeswax” may not sound very appealing, but you’ll have to trust me…it is.

Or don’t trust me…then I can keep the wines for myself!

Chateau Musar – Cellar in a Box

Originally published on August 9, 2008.

One of the things I like most about being a retailer is dreaming up cool ways of selling wine – hang tags with quirky tasting notes, 2 or 3-packs that play on a theme or a varietal, rotating displays and features, and so on. For a while, I’ve wanted to put together some 12-bottle cases that play on different themes – summer whites, a Bordeaux starter case, a wine course in a box – the list could be endless. But the day to day of the store seems to always come first. But when I heard that one of my distributors was pre-selling some Chateau Musar back vintages, I decided I had to act!

Chateau Musar is one of my all-time favorite wines with a back story that’s the stuff of legends. Winery and vineyards are located in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. Founded in the 1930’s, with wine produced in nearly every harvest despite battles waged among the vines. Cellars that served as bomb shelters in the 80’s. Certain vintages that taste of gunpowder.

Ah, growing old with a wine – buying a case or two of a specific vintage, drinking one bottle every year or so until you decide it’s just the way you like it and then polishing off what’s left. Such is the dream…You read that advice everywhere, but it’s not so practical in real life.

So when I heard that the Musar importer was putting some of the back vintages up for sale, I decided I was going to put together a little Musar cellar-in-a-box. 12 bottles of various vintages, including one bottle of the highly obscure Musar white.

It will include:

3 bottles each of the 1997, 1995, and 1994 vintages – three very different young (for Musar) wines to be opened now, later and much later to see how they evolve
1 bottle each of 1991 and 1988 – two older wines that are generally thought to be the two best vintages of the last 20 years
1 bottles of the 1995 white, which is a whole other bottle of uniqueness – read about a recent vintage here

While it’s not cheap, I’ve priced it to be a much better buy than purchasing all the bottles individually (if you could even find them.) And it’s still much less than buying even one bottle of a top Bordeaux.

I think it’s a pretty cool concept. We’ll see if anyone else does.

Fancy Pants Wine: Chateau Musar White 1999

Originally published on May 3, 2008.

Time for another fancy pants wine…

Chateau Musar White 1999 (Bekaa Valley, Lebanon)
Gaston Hochar’s red Chateau Musar wines have developed cult following, but the whites are even more obscure – and just as worthy of a little cult of their own. Made from the Merwah and Obaideh grapes, the wine reminds us of traditional aged white Rioja. Done in a slightly oxidized style, the wine is nutty, with notes of carmalized almond, dried fruits, and a bit of honey – but it’s not at all sweet. It has a super long finish and would go very well with simply grilled fish.

Tag: Chateau Musar