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 2013 harvest at Chateau Musar could be summarised in one word elegance. Rain and snowfall during the winter of 2012/13 was higher than in previous years, a welcome change after many years of poor rainfall. April was cooler than usual and in May, the vineyards were exceptionally green due to the combination of the winter and spring weather. Flowering was successful and yields were healthy but Chateau Musar experienced a week of intense heat in late August which resulted in high sugar contents of the Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan the only red variety that did not react to the climatic changes was the Cinsault which was harvested last on the 27th September.

A dense deep red with our characteristic sweet/savoury/spicy blend of Cinsault, Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon. Tastings from the vats in the winter of 2013, revealed elegance and roundness with a spice-dominant palate liquorice, clove, cinnamon with a warm coulis of red fruits. There are raspberries and blueberries on the palate, this is an elegant vintage, integrated and balanced with fine tannin. No sense of Cabernet Sauvignon here, a more Cinsault dominated vintage with softer red fruits.