Château Musar White

Château Musar White is built entirely on two grape varieties that have been cultivated in Lebanon for thousands of years. Obaideh is thought to be related to Chardonnay, while Merwah shares a familial connection with Semillon. These are not curiosities or heritage projects in name only; they are the backbone of a wine that competes with the finest whites in the world. Obaideh grows in stony chalky soils in the Anti-Lebanon foothills, while Merwah occupies calcareous gravelly slopes on the seaward face of Mount Lebanon. Both sites sit between 1,200 and 1,500 meters above sea level, where the high-altitude Mediterranean climate delivers warm days, cool nights, dry summers, and abundant winter rainfall.

• Obaideh is thought to be related to Chardonnay; Merwah is thought to be related to Semillon
• Obaideh grows on stony chalky soils in the Anti-Lebanon foothills
• Merwah occupies calcareous gravels on the seaward slopes of Mount Lebanon
• Both varieties have been cultivated in Lebanon for thousands of years

The vineyards supplying Château Musar White sit at elevations of approximately 1,400 meters, where the diurnal temperature range is significant enough to preserve acidity and build complexity. Soils across the two sites include stony chalk, calcareous gravel, limestone, and clay. Crucially, the vines remain ungrafted on their own roots, a condition that is increasingly rare across the wine world. Yields are deliberately kept at an extreme minimum of 10 to 20 hectoliters per hectare, concentrating everything the vine has to offer into a small volume of intensely flavored fruit.

• Vineyards sit at around 1,400 meters above sea level across two distinct mountain sites
• Soils include stony chalk, calcareous gravel, limestone, and clay
• Vines are ungrafted, growing on their own roots
• Yields are 10 to 20 hectoliters per hectare, among the lowest in the wine world

The production process for Château Musar White is defined by patience. The wine is fermented in French oak barriques sourced from the forest of Nevers, where it remains for nine months. After bottling, it spends approximately six years aging in the cellar before release. From harvest to market, seven years pass. This extended aging regime produces a wine that evolves dramatically from a bright, citrus-forward character in its youth to a rich, nutty, and exotic expression in maturity, with notes of beeswax, honey, and mellow spice. The wine develops tawny hues with age and is fully capable of cellaring for decades beyond its release date.

• Fermented in French oak barriques from the Nevers forest for nine months
• Bottle-aged in the cellar for approximately six years before release
• Total time from harvest to release is seven years
• Evolves from citrus-forward youth to nutty, exotic maturity with beeswax and honey notes

Château Musar was established in 1930 by Gaston Hochar and has continued to produce wine through extraordinary circumstances, including Lebanon's civil war from 1975 to 1990. Only the 1976 and 1984 vintages were not produced during that conflict. The estate achieved organic certification in 2006, becoming the first certified organic winery in Lebanon. The white wine's foundation in ancient, ungrafted vines growing on high-altitude terroir makes it one of the most historically significant vineyard sites of its kind anywhere in the world.

• Château Musar was founded by Gaston Hochar in 1930
• Wine production continued throughout Lebanon's civil war (1975 to 1990), with only 1976 and 1984 missing
• The estate became Lebanon's first certified organic winery in 2006
• The wine's ancient ungrafted vineyard sites represent a globally rare piece of viticultural history