If you've read any other wine reviews on our site, you would know we have a soft spot for Chateau Musar from Lebanon. We first had an aged Musar at Wine Bar George in Disney Springs, and have been buying bottles wherever we can find them ever since.
The Chateau Musar 2010 is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, and Cinsaut which hits all the things we love about this bottle. Despite enjoying this one in 2021, we think this one could age even more!
Chateau Musar is one of those wineries that we have to buy a bottle of every time we find them in a liquor store- especially the aged bottles which the winery does not release until they are ready to drink (making them somewhat hard to come by).
Our first experience with this winery was enjoying a lovely '98 at Wine Bar George at Disney Springs, and ever since then we've been on the hunt for bottles. We found a great Chateau Musar 2006 at a store locally and struck gold when visiting family in Ohio where we found half case of Chateau Musar 2010 and the Pere et Fils 2012 as well.
We bought one of each, went back to my mom's house, cracked open the 2012, and knew we had to go back to the store the next day to buy more- this Carignan, Grenach, Cinsaut, and Cabernet Sauvignon blend offered everything we love about the winery in an attractive price point as well!
Our first sample of Lebanon's Chateau Musar came at Wine Bar George while we were on vacation at Disney. At that point in time, Angie had never tried a significantly aged wine, and the 1996 Chateau Musar caught her eye as a splurge sample.
It was, in a word, lovely.
It was there that we learned that Chateau Musar is somewhat unique as a producer in that they do not release their bottles until they are ready to drink. Sometimes these can be young, other times quite old depending on the grape, growing season, and blending choices.
Cut to a year later when we found a bottle of 2006 Chateau Musar at a local store with a three-way blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsaut, and Carignan at a rather respectable price point. Without thinking twice, we bought the store's one and only bottle.
A few months later we cracked it open with our Ah So, gently poured it into our decanter, and snuck a taste while letting it breathe. It was different, naturally, but every bit the high-quality wine we expected.
The Clos du Roy Fronsac is a primarily Merlot-based wine (90%) with just a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc blended in for good measure (5%) of each.
We quickly noticed two things after opening this one. On the nose, it was incredibly perfumed and on the palate, it was significantly more tannic than we expected.
You guessed it, we opened this one too soon.
The Lafken Cabernet Sauvignon came from the winery's vineyard in the Maipo Valley of Chile. In being our first Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile, we were pretty excited to see how the flavors of the bottle would express itself compared to those from more well-known regions like California and Bordeaux.
While one bottle may not be enough of a representation to make general comparisons, we have to admit we like what we tasted here.
Although the term Super Tuscan is more or less a marketing word used to describe high-quality wines outside of the traditional Italian designation classification when we hear the name used our ears perk up all the same if only because, on the whole, we've had some pretty stellar Super Tuscans when traveling around the region.
Fattoria di Bagnolo's Capro Rosso was one such Super Tuscan, and after visiting the vineyard on a trip to Tuscany in 2019, I was more than happy to pick up some bottles (including the delicious Fattoria di Bagnolo Chianti Riserva). In this review, we popped open a bottle of the 2016 vintage to see what the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend was like four years in.
If any easy-drinking Cabernet Sauvignon is what you seek, look no further than the Howard Park Cabernet from Australia. This fruit-forward, low-tannin Cab will likely go down quick!
If you are a fan of wine with intense herb and spice notes, Gratavinum's 2πr from Priorat, Spain is for you. This one is a blend of Grenache, Carignan, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah and is taglined “the well rounded wine” to play off of its name.
While we thought the 2016 vintage could do with more aging beyond the 4-year age we enjoyed it at, this one was simply intriguing.
