{"id":130,"date":"2010-12-20T14:38:00","date_gmt":"2010-12-20T14:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leilappetit.com\/blog\/?p=130"},"modified":"2011-08-08T11:26:55","modified_gmt":"2011-08-08T11:26:55","slug":"chateau-musar-dinner-at-santini-edinburgh-sheraton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/?p=130","title":{"rendered":"Ch\u00e2teau Musar dinner at Santini, Edinburgh Sheraton"},"content":{"rendered":"
For years my mum had been telling me about ‘this amazing wine’ she’d one found in duty free one time in a Middle-Eastern airport. It was Lebanese, and apparently this bottle of red was one of the best things she\u2019d ever tasted. Guess work, a decade on, and a wee bit more nous about these things and we\u2019ve decided it had more than likely been a bottle from Ch\u00e2teau Musar in Lebanon.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Viticulture has existed in Lebanon for over 6000 years, theart of growing the grapes, bottling and trading the wines has been around for so long there are biblical references and even reference within ancient Egyptian script and art. That\u2019s quite a formidable history. The Ch\u00e2teau Musar history began in 1930. <\/span><\/div>\n

From their website:<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span>Created in 1930 in the cellar of an old 17th century castle, Ch\u00e2teau Musar is as much the work of a family as the living testimony of all the civilisations that have tread its soil. <\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
After a long stay in France, Gaston Hochar returned to Lebanon and created Ch\u00e2teau Musar in the cellars of the old ‘Mzar’ castle in Ghazir, overlooking the Mediterranean sea.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
What began as a hobby soon became a passion; a passion inspired by an initial encounter with renowned viticulturist Ronald Barton while he was stationed in Lebanon during the Second World War.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/em><\/div>\n
The family’s love for wine grew and in 1959, after completing his oenology diploma in 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 is to translate what nature intended. <\/em><\/span><\/div>\n

Ch\u00e2teau Musar first achieved international recognition during the Bristol Wine Fair in England in 1979, where the wine press and prominent critics including Michael Broadbent declared it “the discovery of the fair”. In 1984, the respected wine magazine Decanter named Serge Hochar the first ever “Wine Man of the Year” for his extraordinary achievements, determination and dedication to producing wines during the difficult years of the Lebanese Civil War.<\/em><\/span>

<\/em>
Speaking about the wines of Ch\u00e2teau Musar, Serge Hochar says “the harmony of nature is better than anything we could ever create. I believe it should be a priority to seek to drink what is ‘true’ rather than what is ‘good’ “. When speaking about quality in wine he adds “I once produced a wine that was technically perfect but it lacked the charms of imperfection”.<\/em><\/span>
No doubt Serge Hochar’s strong personality and conviction in his beliefs have provided much inspiration for the many passionate fans of Ch\u00e2teau Musar throughout the world.<\/em><\/span>
In recent years, Musar has been part of events such as the “<\/em>D\u00eener des 30<\/em><\/a>” organised by Champagne Louis Roederer in honour of the 30 best wines of the world.<\/em><\/span>

Invited to the New York Wine Experience, Musar annually attends the London Wine Fair and Vinexpo every two years. Present at frequent auctions of private collections, its name has been linked to Sotheby’s in 1979 and<\/em> Christies<\/em><\/a> in 2000 and 2004. The way paved by the wine from the land of “milk and honey” consequently allowed Lebanon to adhere to the OIV – the “Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin”- in 1995 with the collaboration of other Lebanese wine producers.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 ~~~~~<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Dinner, hosted by Ralph Hochar was held at Santini<\/strong> <\/a>at The Sheraton on December 10th. It was a great event, with interesting wines, perfect food and great company which included my fab mum and Sharon Wilson, Bite’s <\/strong><\/a>publisher and all round bonne viveuse! I hate to admit it, but wasn’t really in revewing or note-taking mode, so instead, here are a few photos of what we ate!<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Yellow fin tuna carpaccio<\/b><\/div>\n
Seared foie gras, ponzu dressing, endive & grapefruit salad<\/i><\/div>\n
Wine <\/b>
Mosaic Syrah, Cinsault, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chateau Musar<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Proven\u00e7al crusted Dornoch lamb loin<\/b><\/div>\n
Violet aubergine pur\u00e9e, saut\u00e9ed butternut squash, oven roasted tomatoes, basil oil & naturel lamb jus<\/i><\/div>\n
Wine <\/b>
Ch\u00e2teau Musar Red Gaston Hochar, Bekaa Valley 2001<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Assiette of desserts<\/b><\/div>\n
Roasted apple tart, stem ginger iced parfait, chocolate souffl\u00e9<\/i><\/div>\n
Wine<\/b>
Chateau Musar White Gaston Hochar, Bekaa Valley, 2000<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Scottish & Northumbrian artisan cheese board<\/b><\/div>\n
Admiral Collingwood, Ailsa Craig Goat, Blue Monday, Blarlaith Cheddar and Grimbister served with celery, grapes, crisp bread and oatcakes<\/i><\/p>\n

Wine<\/b>
<\/i><\/div>\n

Hochar P\u00e8re et Fils Red, Chateau Musar, Bekaa Valley, 2002<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Caff\u00e9 & biscotti <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For years my mum had been telling me about ‘this amazing wine’ she’d one found in duty free one time in a Middle-Eastern airport. It was […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":337,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions\/337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}