Chateau Musar Red 2011 is dark blood red colour with a rich, fragrant fruit nose; mulberries, black cherries, plums with a hint of mocha. The palate is full, intense and concentrated, characterised by black forest-fruits with elegant spice. The tannins are soft and juicy and a long finish. Inspiration for the Musar wines came from Bordeaux red wines, and you will see the typical Bordeaux red wine blend here.

Founded in 1930 by Gaston Hochar, the wines of Chateau Musar are unique expressions from a country with an ancient wine-making culture, as vines have been cultivated from Lebanons high altitude Bekaa Valley for over 6,000 years. Chateau Musars red vineyards are situated towards the southern end of the Bekaa valley, noth of Lake Qaroun and about 30km south-east of Beirut. They lie near the villages of Aana and Kefraya on a range of gravelley soils over limestone: ideally suited to viticulture. Every wine is produced naturally with a non-interventionist wine making philosophy and the winery was the first in Lebanon to implement organically certified viticulture in 2006 for its Chateau Musar red and white grapes.

The harvest of 2011 posed one of the most challenging experiences in winemaking at Chateau Musar over the last 20 years, as it was one of the most untypical years in Lebanese history. The year began with a cold January but with insufficient rain. February proved similar with March being sunnier but April and May produced the really big surprise with a level of rainfall to match January, February and March combined! The main result of the rain was very late maturation, with flowering occurring 25 days later than usual. The first Carignan grapes were harvested in September and the harvest was finally completed in mid-October, except for the 1983 vintage, was the latest in the companys history.