Wine of the Week: Passion from Lebanon

Last weekend I visited a good friend and he gave me the opportunity to "raid" his wine cellar. He was serving his special pork casserole with a tomato-based sauce, so I was looking for a red that could handle that but also for something with a little age so we could enjoy the wine by itself as well. 

​Fortunately, I don’t have to search for long. He had quite a few bottles of Chateau Musar in different vintages, so the choice made itself. We ended up with a vintage 2003 and it did not disappoint.

​Chateau Musar has for a long time been a firm favourite in Norway. Even during all the troubled periods in Lebanon, they have continued to produce wine and their quality is super. The top wine has me drawing comparisons to great Bordeaux wines, but they have their own distinction as well. The las couple of years they have also produced a cheaper range of quality wines that also have become popular.

​Tasting notes:

​Chateau Musar 2003 kr 429,90

A superb wine. Leather, pepper, ripe cherries and cigar on the nose. Very soft and delicate tannins, with ripe cherries, paprika and red forest berries in the mouth. It had enough structure to match the fat from the pork and the acidity from the tomato-based sauce we enjoyed it with. But I would have loved to try this with a middle eastern dish, maybe something with lamb, that would probably be fantastic.

There are several vintages of Chateau Musar at Vinmonopolet going back as far as 1979. Also, try their cheaper wines, the Chateau Musar Aana and Musar Jeune, good quality and good price!

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