1997 Chateau Musar

Château Musar is one of Lebanon's most admired wine estates. Lebanon has been a country of winemakers for thousands of years, but modern winemaking started in the early 20th century with entrepreneurs like Gaston Hochar, who founded Château Masur in 1930. Since then several generations of the Hochar family have run the estate, which became an internationally distributed wine in 1979 after wine writer Michael Broadbent wrote glowingly about the estate's wines. The Hochar family was originally French but arrived in Lebanon in the 12the century. Gaston Hochar acquired property in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley about 20 miles southeast of Beirut. Farming at the estate has been organic since 1930. Château Musar's flagship red wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Cinsualt.