We first came across Lebanese wine when I was pregnant; we were on holiday in Staithes in Yorkshire and had gone out for dinner to a wonderful little restaurant in the village. I don’t remember the name of the restaurant but I think I had venison… I was very careful when I was pregnant, so although we ordered wine, I only had half a glass. We chose the wine because we had not come across Lebanese wine before and it sounded interesting… and it was just gorgeous! It was like drinking rich velvet, there were so many flavours in the few sips I had, that although I was sorry I couldn’t drink more, I enjoyed every mouthful. My husband didn’t mind at all that he had to drink the rest of the bottle himself – in fact we took the half-finished bottle back to where we were staying in the village.
The wine we so enjoyed on our lovely holiday was Chateau Musar, and if you enjoy wine then I really recommend you seek this out and see what you think:
Chateau Musar is grown in the Bekaa Valley, and I’m sure the wine of the Bible must have tasted like this because vines have been grown in this region for 6,000 years! Wine has been produced here since before Roman times… so there is a lot of experience in producing this very fine wine and the family who produce Chateau Musar, the Hochar family, arrived in Lebanon from France in the twelfth century.
Last year, for my husband’s birthday, I bought him a bottle of Chateau Musar 2005… and tonight, a year later, as it is his birthday we opened it, and he very kindly shared it with me and our son… who first experienced it in utero, twenty-one years ago!
I was a little anxious as we opened it… would it taste as good, would it be as beautiful as we remembered… It does and it is! Smelling it was like smelling ripe blackberries picked in sunshine… tasting it… berries, almonds, coffee grounds,and strangely, Banda fluid… anyone who has worked in an office or was a teacher might remember those copier machines which had a mixture of methyl and ethyl alcohol, which to some of us was just lovely (although others hated it)
Chateau Musar… what a great wine… wonderful!
Lois Elsden 