2006 Chateau Musar, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, 2 Bottles

Description

Brick red, the rim just starting to amber.
At first pour, red fruit, raisin and eucalyptus, with earth and truffle making a show. Palate starts out bold, and the acidity nearly knocks you off your feet, but the fruit holds you upright. It follows the aroma and brings you in for another sip. Tannins are fine and don’t linger. As I’m not formerly familiar with this wine, I’m astounded.
Will check back in in an hour.

After an hour and a half, aromas of berries and tangerine have evolved. The knock your socks off acidity has eased and what was left of the tannins have further softened. A bit tobacco and leather creeping up on the finish.

We ran out of steam, having opened other bottles, we returned the remainder to the bottle. Not much sediment, surprisingly. So we’re here 1 day later, corked on the counter. It has a revived freshness with red fruit.. pomegranate prevalence, and lingering tangerine. Lovely revived acidity and rounded, soft tannins just perfectly balanced today.

We will finish this last bit off and I may plan to buy future vintages, having had such a stellar experience with my first Musar.