Chateau Musar is a Lebanese winery located in Ghazir, Lebanon, north of the capital Beirut. Musar grapes grow in the Beqaa Valley, a fertile sunny valley at an elevation of , Gaston Hochar was succeeded by his sons, Ronald and Serge Hochar, with the latter managing the estate from 1959 until his death from a swimming accident in Mexico in 2014, and Ronald Hochar assuming marketing and finance department responsibilities from 1962. Serge Hochar's sons have succeeded him at the winery. Gaston Hochar is now in charge of the day-to-day running of the winery, and Marc Hochar is in charge of the winery's commercial aspects.

In the 1930s and 1940s when Lebanon was under French control, the winery was an important customer for local French Army troops stationed in Lebanon. A French officer named Ronald Barton (whom Gaston named his second son after), and was stationed in Lebanon, was highly influential to the early development of Chateau Musar's wines, as Barton was affiliated with the Bordeaux wineries Château Langoa-Barton and Château Léoville Barton.

In 1959, Serge Hochar becomes Chateau Musar winemaker, while completing his winemaking studies at the University of Oenology in Bordeaux, under the tutorage of Jean Riberau and Emile Peynaud.

Production

The red wine, which is the best known is made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault, Carignan, Grenache, and Mourvèdre grapes in varying amounts each year.

They also produce a single vineyard wine, Hochar, which is similar to the red Musar but is oak aged for only 9 months, and can be drunk younger, as well as the Cuvée Musar range, both produced as a red, white and a rosé.

References

  • Chateau Musar official site