1995 Musar Red

The 1995 Chateau Musar represents an extreme in terms of Musar’s love-it-or-hate-it vintages. This should be far more controversial than wines such as the 1981 or 1967. Even while Serge Hochar called it “a great vintage,” he acknowledged its unusual properties. It was a relatively late harvest, for one thing. Its commercial release was delayed to the point where the 1996 was put out first. The first nuance on this was unusual sweetness. The second was obvious volatile acidity. (Indeed an earlier bottle tasted was far stronger in that regard and smelled largely of turpentine. The score is based only on the sounder bottle.) The structure here is undeniably fine, to be sure. It is powerful, fresh, young and pointed, with a surprisingly graceful feel at times. I couldn’t get past its eccentricities, though. It is a notably flawed wine that is over the line. To be sure, it does enough well – sometimes beautifully – that I can say I’d still drink it and it can’t be ignored. It will surely work better with food, too. As with most all of the wines here, this has the structure to preserve it a good long while, but whether you really want to cellar this a long time may be another story. Drink now. Importer: Broadbent Selections, San Francisco, CA; (415) 931-1725