Musar may have discovered native Lebanese red grape

An ancient native Lebanese red grape variety may be on the brink of discovery according to Château Musar winemaker Tarek Sakr.

Although currently without a name and yet to be correctly identified, Sakr told the drinks business: “I am sure it is a unique grape that is indigenous to Lebanon.”

Referring to the physical characteristics of the vine he said that the species “has a particularity like no other… and if it makes a decent wine I will send the grapes to France.”

Sakr is to make a wine from the 2011 vintage in an amphora after discovering an isolated nine vines of the unidentified variety trained onto a pergola to produce grapes for eating.

“Maybe it is Pinot Noir but this is something I have to do,” he said.

The Musar winemaker also spoke of the extreme nature of the 2010 vintage in Lebanon, as previously reported by the drinks business.

“A heat wave brought temperatures as high as 48 degrees Celsius for three days in August and we lost 40% of our crop – in 125 years of records this is the first time we have ever had temperatures like this,” he said.

As a result the château’s yields for 2010 dropped from 35 hl/ha to as low as 15 hl/ha but produced very good grapes with high acidity and high alcohol, explained Sakr.

However, he also said that the extreme temperatures last year had prompted Musar to consider plantings outside its home in the Bekaa Valley, where bush vines occupy sites at over 3,000 ft.

Patrick Schmitt, 14.04.2011