What’s the betting the mystery vintage is the recently re-released '01 which lots of us snapped up at good prices from Waitrose Cellar and other retailers.
Great concept, though at 12.5 GBP for two 68ml pouches that works out at the equivalent of ~69GBP per bottle. With mailing etc. it is reasonable if not stellar value. Worth also measuring 68ml into a wine glass to see how much you get. I’d say probably not enough for two of you to taste.
That’s really cool. I saw Tom Cannavan opening one of these (maybe Instagram?) and assumed it was trade. Thanks for the share, will definitely order
Looking forward to reading everyone’s impressions on Saturday morning! I’m also contemplating decanting a bottle of the '01 on Saturday morning. There is obviously something Musary in the air - maybe all the snow making us yearn for warmer climes.
Thinking maybe we should rename this ‘The Musar thread’, or ‘Musar Mayhem’, given this community’s penchant for alliteration.
0 voters
Musar Mastu… wait what now??
Musings on Musar?
Well, in keeping with the plenty of feedback on the Waitrose website (from whence it came), the cork wasn’t in the best of shape. Damp throughout and broke in half despite my gentleness. Happily the bottom half came out clean. Really interesting smell. Farmyard…pigs blood…iron. Whilst decanting there were a few drops on the countertop which I snaffled when no-one was looking. Too small a quantity really but it had a “presence” like a fortified wine. Very “well hello there”. Garnet in colour. Mince pies on the nose [EDIT: from the wet cork]!
Looking forward to tomorrow night.
Oh blimey. Should I open now?
No to hell with it, I’m waiting until tomorrow morning.
I do not have a clue. Completely uncharted territory here for me. Tomorrow morning should be just fine I would have thought unless you’ll be fancying a glass with your elevenses.
Did you not have a sip of the sediment dregs? I suppose that’s probably considered uncouth.
For what it’s worth I recently drank a bottle of 2001 over several days (I think I posted something here about doing the same thing with a 2005). Basically I thought it tasted very similar over the first 36 hours (my bottle didn’t have much funk on opening, but giving it a few hours in case is certainly worthwhile), and then transitioned into something more claret like but still delicious for the next couple of days (less good if you caught it in transition). Just sitting in a covered decanter at cool room temperature.
So on that showing, I’m not sure a few hours vs 24 hours makes any difference.
Hands up, I had a few more drops that way LOL.
Waste not, want not.
I generally open in the morning for drinking that evening but I also usually take 5-6 days to drink a bottle so happy to enjoy observing its evolution! However I’ve never been disappointed on the first evening (barring the couple of duff bottles I mentioned higher up in the thread).
I’ve opened. Cork came out fine with prongs - lovely subtle damson aroma.
@NickP Any objections to us renaming? You’ve started quite the thread which has become the de facto Musar discussion place.
So, my cork is falling to bits, but mainly still in the bottle. Any ideas what to do next? Not sure I can get the cork out without pulverising it.
I use an ah-so wine opener a bit like shown below to open delicate corks.
Not sure if you can MacGyver something from garage supplies, I seem to have plethora of small metal strips from various DIY projects over the years. Genrally speaking worth the investment if you intend to open more than 1 bottle of Musar.
Alternatively, pulverise the cork and strain it in a tea strainer as you carefully decant. With a bit of care and attention it will be fine and do no damage to the wine. Stray cork won’t alter the wine flavour but sediment will, that should be the rule of thumb.
Thanks. Made a bit of progress with MacGyvering, but eventually decided to push the cork in and sieve. I think it might have helped if I’d run something between the bottle and the cork to loosen after inserting the corkscrew but before pulling. I think the cork had fused to the bottleneck to some extent.
That’s good, probably means it was well sealed and will be in excellent condition!
Thanks for asking. No objection at all. I’m surprised how the thread took off, who knew how many Musar lovers there were!!
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