Chateau Musar Jeune Red 2018
Background
We thought we’d send a little love to the wine industry in Lebanon by presenting a modern, fun wine from one of their oldest and most prestigious producers. Despite political and economic problems in the area, the wine industry has been steadily growing over the past few decades. In 1990 there were only 4 producers making wine for the international market, today there are almost 50!
Most of the wine production in Lebanon takes place in Bekaa Valley, about halfway between Beirut and Damascus. People have been making wine here or 6000 years, give or take, using the indigenous white grapes of the area. Today some of these white grapes are being used to make interesting wines, but the majority of producers in the area are working with French varietals from the southern Rhone, Bordeaux and other warmer wine regions. Bekaa is strange little pocket of terroir, a high elevation river valley receiving over 300 days a year of pure sunshine. The common vineyard problems of rot and mildew are virtually non-existent here. Instead, vintners worry about hydration and over-ripening. Musar chooses to amplify the effects of the terroir by dry-farming. Relying on temperature difference between day and night to move enough air to bring moisture up from the river. Young vines at lower altitude receive less sun and more water, which results in fruitier juicier wines, while the old vines at higher elevation struggle with the heat and dryness, resulting in deeply savoury, age-worthy wines.
When Chateau Musar was established in the 1930s both Lebanon and Syria were under French control and the border between the two countries kept jumping back forth. So one year the Bekaa would be in one country, and the other the next. Musar set up their administrative home on the Mediterranean coast on the outskirts of Beirut to ensure easy access to both shipping and the only real economic market in the area. Since then Musar has risen to become the largest and most well-regarded producer in the country. They have survived political instability and war. In the civil was that lasted from 1975-1990, their cellars were used as air raid shelters. Over the years they’ve had to ship juice, and barrels to the UK to ensure safe production. In recent years, they have also proven their ability to keep up with the tastes of international wine drinkers. Along side their serious, Bordeaux-like reds, they are producing modern, juicy, immediately drinkable wines like this one.
Tasting Notes
The Jeune Red (jeune = young) is a blend of Cinsault (a deep purple grape that you’ll often see in Rhone blends), Syrah and a little bit of Cab Sauv. The vines are an average age of about 20 years, and they are planted in gravel, so their roots must reach deep down into the earth to access the water table. The grapes are hand-harvest by nomadic Bedouins (for real!) and fermented in concrete. It’s then bottled without filtration and without ever seeing any oak. This wine shows a lot like a wine from a hot place -dark fruit, spice, but this young wine keeps it’s fresh fruit character. It’s a great “big red” option for a warm summer evening.
Food Pairing
Beemster – Wines with dark fruit and tannin are traditionally paired with salty, nutty aged cheese. Most bigger reds are oak-aged which is great with the oxidized (nutty) flavours. The Jeune red, being un-oaked will instead play well with the saltiness. Beemster, especially old Beemster has big crunchy salt chunks right in the cheese. The freshness in the wine is a great contrast to all that mouth-watering saltiness.
Roasted Eggplant – Pairings are always fun when you can reference the local cuisine. Roasting eggplant turns all it’s vegetal flavours into sweet earthy flavours, just like the dark spicy stuff that under all the fruit flavours in the wine.
Zaatar – this is a blanket term for different regional spice blends from the Middle East. It usually contains herbs like thyme, oregano and sumac, and sweeter spices like cinnamon or caraway and it often contains sesame or fennel seeds. You can mix it into hummus, meat or veggies, bake it into bread, or add it to olive oil to make a flavourful paste.
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