Chateau Musar is Lebanon's most famous and renowned winery. Founded in 1930 by the Hochar family. In 1984, winemaker Serge Hochar was named Man of the Year by the prestigious British wine magazine Decanter. Things moved quickly after that. Chateau Musar's idiosyncratic wines attracted international attention. To this day they are highly sought-after wines with almost a cult status.
The winery was founded by his father Gaston, but it was above all winemaker Serge Hochar who gave the family business international fame. He managed to keep winemaking going through much improvisation during the Lebanese civil war of 1975 to 1990 - and, in this difficult period, even to make wines of very high quality. Serge held to a distinctive philosophy. Chateau Musar was, for instance, the first Lebanese wine company to farm organically. Its white and red wines can (and should) be cellared, and have a characteristic aroma and flavor of herbs and spices. Musar allows (part of) the barrels to oxidize slightly, giving the wines great ripeness, a distinctive spiciness and aging potential. Serge Hochar sadly passed away on New Year's Eve 2014. His children and nephews already played an important role at the winery by then and now bear full responsibility.
Chateau Musar's vineyards lie at over a kilometer of altitude in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley - an exceptionally suitable place to make wine. In summer it's warm and sunny during the day, but it cools down at night. The soil contains limestone and gravel. Winemaking already took place here 6,000 years ago. French monks picked up the thread again two centuries ago, at a time when present-day Lebanon was a French protectorate. You can see that reflected in the winegrowing, which is clearly inspired by France - almost all the grape varieties planted in the Bekaa Valley are French. Musar uses Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, Cinsault, and the 'indigenous' varieties Obaideh and Merwah. These have admittedly been planted in Lebanon for a very long time, but are closely related to Chardonnay and Sémillon respectively.
Chateau Musar's estate is, remarkably, located on the Mediterranean coast, two and a half hours' drive from the Bekaa. Gaston Hochar made this choice in 1930 because the borders of present-day Lebanon hadn't yet been settled - he wanted his business to be within Lebanese territory no matter what. We currently have four wines from Chateau Musar in our range. You can view all our wines from Chateau Musar here.
If you want to know more about this winery, here you will find the link to the website of Chateau Musar.
Orange wine (27) 
Fresh (90) 
Light (36) 
Rosé (14) 
Aromatic (22) 
Medium (98) 
Sparkling (27) 
Ripe (71) 
Full-bodied (99) 
