Château Musar Red Bekaa Valley (Lebanon) 2001

94+ points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2001 Château Musar has long had a reputation as one of the greatest recent vintages from this property, so I was delighted when Marc Hochar included it in the more youthful examples of the wine for me to taste in preparation for this article. At age fifteen the 2001 has now reached a lovely point in its evolution for current drinking, as it delivers a fine bouquet of raspberries, cherries, spices meats, a fine base of stony soil tones, cigar wrapper, a bit of pepper, garrigue and a touch of cedar. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, complex and shows beautiful mid-palate depth, with impeccable balance, fine focus and grip, melting tannins and outstanding complexity on the long and utterly classic finish. I drank a fair bit of Château Musar from the decade of the 1970s in my formative years in the wine trade, and this 2001 reminds me very strongly of what the beautiful 1978 and 1979 drank like back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. This is a classic Musar! 2017-2055. (Jan/Feb 2017)"

93 points Wine & Spirits: "As elegant as Serge Hochar himself, the man behind Château Musar, this blend of cabernet sauvignon, carignan and cinsault is lithe yet firm. The fruit feels autumnal, in shades of rust red and ocher spice, and is saturated with a spicy, foresty fragrance. It's delicious now, ready for game birds scented with juniper berries, and should live on for another decade. (Jun 2010)"

91 points Mark Squires (Wine Advocate): "The 2001 CHATEAU MUSAR, bottled in 2004, is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Carignan, aged for one year in French oak. Nuanced by cherries and spice, it is quite delicious... This is still powerful, I hasten to add, with drying notes on the finish, but the fruitiness melds beautifully with the barnyard notes, and it is nicely supported by the tannin rather than overwhelmed... this should age well... and this will be a wine some will love, and some will find has too much barnyard. Personally, I enjoyed it a lot, and was just imagining how it would work with venison. (Feb 2010)"

91 points Pedro Ballesteros Torres, MW (Decanter): "Developed, quite meaty and earthy on the nose, it gets better on the palate. Surprisingly tannic, which is what the makers refer to as 'the Cabernet character'. It retains the Musar character but is definitely more austere. It stayed in good shape days after the bottle was opened, but did not improve after the third day. Drinking Window: 2020-2031. (6/12/20)"