2022 Chateau Musar Jeune Rouge

Dark cherry, pomegranate, cranberry, violet, and thyme with smooth tannins, bright acidity, and a warm spicy finish — dense, energetic, and unoaked. 50% Cinsault, 35% Syrah, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon from young vines on limestone and gravel. Certified organic. Native fermentation, minimal sulfur, unfined, unfiltered. Gaston Hochar founded Château Musar in 1930 at twenty years old, inspired by Lebanon's 6,000-year winemaking tradition and his time in Bordeaux. His son Serge studied under Émile Peynaud and famously produced wine through fifteen years of civil war — grapes trucked through militia checkpoints from the Bekaa Valley to the winery in Ghazir. Serge once told a journalist he'd rather die than miss a vintage. He never missed one. The family's entry-level red from one of the most storied estates in the world.