Description

The red wines of Chateau Musar have an amazing reputation but less is known about the intriguing whites and rose that are produced here.  Subtly oaked with nuances of citrus and an underlying honeyed richness in their youth, the white Musar develops into a complex and mellow wine with bottle age that has often been likened to a dry Sauternes.

Pale gold in colour with quince, lemon zest, baked apple and a hint of vanilla on the nose. The palate has citrus and subtle herbaceous notes, grapefruit and preserved lemons with an overall impression of ripeness, a lovely freshness and long dry finish. Cellared well, the fabulous 2016 Musar White will keep for decades.

“The 2016 Chateau Musar White is an extraordinary wine. It’s likened by some to a mature dry white Bordeaux and by others to a Manzanilla. I reckon it could pass for old white Rhone or Rioja. The truth is that it’s not like anything else at all. Yes, there’s that oxidative character, so typical of Musar, but there are also notes of honey, nuts, cream and citrus. It’s rich but dry.”
Jonathan Ray The Spectator Magazine February 2022

Chateau Musar White is a blend of ancient grape varieties Obaideh and Merwah, indigenous to the mountains of Lebanon and said to be related to Chasselas Chardonnay and Semillon. The Obaideh vineyards are in the foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountains on stony, chalky soils, while the Merwah vines are on the seaward side of Mount Lebanon, on calcareous gravels. Yields are very low for these untrained bushvines: 10 – 20 hl per hectare. At high altitude (around 1400m) they are still on their own roots, among very few vineyards in the world of this calibre.
Chateau Musar White is fermented in French oak barriques (from the forest of Nevers) for 9 months, bottled and blended at the end of its first year and released seven years after the harvest.