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Chateau Musar: The Story of a wine Icon |
History
Lebanon is one of the oldest sites of wine production. The cultivation of the vine goes back to the Phoenicians who traded their wines along the Mediterranean trade routes, introducing viniculture into many parts of southern Europe. Some centuries later, the Romans chose Baalbek in the east of Lebanon as the site to build the Temple of Bacchus as their tribute to the god of wine, a temple that still stands today.
Château Musar, by far the f...
Vineyards
The vineyards of Chateau Musar are located in the Bekaa Valley and in Mount Barouk, around Kefraya and Aana, which is about a two-hour drive from the winery in Ghazir, just north of Beirut. The Bekaa Valley receives an average of 300 days of sunshine annually, and 1,000–2,000mm (39–78 inches) of rain per year. The Bekaa has a Mediterranean climate and an altitude of more than 900 meters (3,000 feet) above sea level. The soil is predominately g...
Winemaking
The Hochar family’s philosophy of respect for the environment means that the 180 hectares of Musar vineyards are managed with minimal human interference and all the wines are made as naturally.
Chateau Musar was the first producer in Lebanon to achieve organic certification for its vineyards. Most are located in the Bekaa Valley, cradled between two mountain ranges running parallel to Lebanon’s Mediterranean coastline. Vines have been cult...
Inside information
1930 – Gaston Hochar of Lebanon’s Chateau Musar plants his first vineyards, after returning from Bordeaux.
1941 – Major Ronald Barton (of Château Langoa-Barton), stationed in Lebanon during World War II, befriends Gaston Hochar, strengthening links with Bordeaux and influencing the Musar style.
1959 – Serge Hochar becomes Chateau Musar winemaker, while completing his winemaking studies at the University of Oenology in Bordeaux, under th...