It will be clear that it takes a certain fanaticism to keep making wine under such difficult circumstances as in Lebanon. This fanaticism is widely present in the Hochar family. Chateau Musar was created in 1930 by Gaston Hochar in the historic family castle, which dates back to the 18th century. This was perfect for making and storing the wines. At the moment, about a million bottles are ripening in the cellars, waiting for the most optimal moment to present them to wine lovers from all over the world. Winemaking continued unabated here during the civil war. Only in the years '76 and '84 was no wine made because of the war. The grapes had to be transported across the firing line over a distance of 100 kilometers to the winery just north of Beirut.

Founder Gaston Hochar was succeeded in 1959 by his son Serge, who had studied oenology in Bordeaux and had an internship at Chateau Léoville-Barton. On the domain he is assisted by his younger brother Ronald and nowadays also by his children, Gaston and Karine. Because of Serge's background, with his studies in Bordeaux, it is very understandable that in many years the red wine has a clearly Bordeaux-like appearance, with a powerful and ripe character, supported by beautiful wood. For some years now, a white wine has also been produced, which also has a pronounced powerful and aromatic character. It makes Chateau Musar a big name in the world of wine.

At Grandcruwijnen we have been carrying the wines of Musar for more than 12 years and because of this long relationship with the Winery and the Importer, we are always allowed to piggyback on some special gems from great old vintages which are only released very slowly. Musar has wines from all their wines from vintage 1935 in their immensely impressive cellars.

This concerns vintage 1998 and is a benchmark wine to see how these wines can age insanely. Under the tab Appendix you will find all the specifications of the Musar 1998.