Chateau Musar Rose

2017| Lebanon

Chateau Musar Rosé is a still and softly-oaked tribute to the ‘blended’ rosés of Champagne, a style widely considered to make the best rosé in the world. It is not made every year as specific grape qualities are required to ensure the varieties combine in elegant form. In their youth the wines are salmon pink in colour, smooth, well-balanced and velvety-textured, with aromas and flavors of peaches, pears, oranges, grapefruit, almonds, wild herbs and citrus leaves. They develop mellow, spicy notes and tawny hues as they age.

The main grapes are Obaideh and Merwah, indigenous to Lebanon and related to Chardonnay and Semillon. Planted between 1920 and 1947 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: 15 to 25 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. Around 5% of southern red Rhône grape Cinsault gives the wine its subtle colour. Fermented and aged for 6 to 9 months in French oak barrels from the forest of Nevers, the wines are bottled a year after the harvest and released for sale two years later.