Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2007 | Page 106

life

FOOD & DRINK

Vineyards of
gravel, minerals
and shrapnel!
By Tim Flint - EUROVINES

If anyone deserves a medal for
bravery in the wine world, it is
the Hochar family of Château
Musar. Being only 15 miles from
the centre of Beirut in the Bekaa
valley, they have endured the
Lebanese Civil War (lasting
from 1975 to 1991), at times
dodging bombs and indeed
have fields of shrapnel to prove
it. Grapes had to travel by truck
to the winery in Ghazir, and
frequently came under gun-fire
and shelling. Upon arrival it
was not uncommon to have
to pick out shrapnel before
fermentation could begin.
Yet with all this, they
managed to
consistently
produce an
exceptional
range of
wines year
on year,
missing only
two vintages
- 1976 and
1984.
Created
in 1930 in
the cellar
of an old
17th century
castle,
Château
Musar is
as much
the work of
the family
as a living
testimony to all of the
civilisations that have trod its
soil (the Phoenicians started
to make wine in Lebanon more
than 6000 years ago). After a
long stay in France, Gaston
Hochar returned to Lebanon
and created Château Musar
in the cellars of the old 'Mzar'
castle in Ghazir, overlooking
the Mediterranean Sea. The
family's love for wine grew
and in 1959, after completing
his oenology diploma in

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Bordeaux, the eldest son,
Serge, entered the business.
Some call him the magician, the
man behind this extraordinary
wine. His response is that
he only seeks to translate
what nature intended.
Musar produces nine different
wines in total: three reds, three
whites and three roses. Many
people already know the top
wine called Château Musar, but
they also produce a second
wine, the Musar Cuvée. There
is also another wine called
Hochar Père et Fils. These really
should be experienced. The red
wines are made from a blend
of different
grape
varieties,
mainly:
Cabernet
Sauvignon,
Cinsault and
Carignan.
The white
wines are
made from
a blend of
Obaideh
and Merwah,
which are