How much were they? You can usually get quite a good deal when waitrose do their 25%
So when do we think the '17 Rouge will be out? And are we worried about the rumoured major price hike? I do want to keep that vertical going …
I might be jumping ship with Musar given the price hikes … and I’ve got quite a stash anyway
I’m getting close to the point I’m out too, prices just getting too much for me.
The vintage report for the 2017 isn’t out yet, but interestingly Musar have now added Chinese translation so we can probably draw some conclusions about where supply is moving to
I don’t think it’s been covered on here yet but they’re also doing away with their UK operation and moving distribution to Fells
Ah - I hadn’t seen that yet, thank you for the link. Hm. I do want to keep my vertical going (hold bottles since '94) but there does come a point … then again, show me another red that can age in so interesting a manner, for such a long time, to develop such complexity and I show you no change from north of GBP100. Do I have enough Musar? Of course I do - far too much. Will I still buy it? Of course I will.
Trying to remember what a bottle cost in the 90s still think it was in the teens …. Wish I’d started collecting then but didn’t have the disposable income
Ha, yes - I’ve been buying Musar since before I could afford it. I remember the first vintage I bought - the '94 , bought in '01 for GBP 12.50 from Majestic - but then, I was a penniless graduate student so suspect 12.50 then was a lot more to me than GBP33 now. I still have one of those left, and every year since. Let’s see what things look like when the '17 comes out…
They do keep threatening to put the prices up significantly. They seem to be making good on that promise!
BTW, not sure how many on this thread are within easy striking distance of Kilburn (in London), but I’m organising a Musarathon there - probably on 2nd May. DM me for details if you’re interested.
Or sign up here: Doodle
Just to say that this is now full, but won’t be the last.
04 and 2011 here for sale if interested
I paid £29 for my 2016 from the society last year, now £33 on the website.
Makes me think the 2017 will be similar to the ‘offer’ price above
I know this isn’t going to go down very well on this thread but having read many of the comments from the ‘converted’ (I do myself like Ch Musar) I am moved to ask the question is it really worth its current status?
Personally I do not feel that it has moved forward over the years. The oldest I have ever bought was the 1977 (or it might have been '72) and when I drink more modern vintages (I have recently tasted 2001 and 2008) I honestly cannot say I think the wine has moved forward since it burst onto the wine scene back in the day!
This isn’t meant to be me pi**ing on anyone’s chips it is an honest opinion concerning the way in which this once iconic wine has somehow wavered and plateau’d (IMHO) over thirty of forty years or so.
Do you really mean worth its status, or rather worth its current price? I’m not sure that a wine can continually improve for ever and if Musar has reached its peak and managed to stay there or thereabouts, then surely that’s already an achievement worthy of high status. If it’s about as good as it can be, how can it move forward?
Formula One cars can be continually tweaked for improved performance, but is this true of grapes?
Graham I could not agree with your opinion more. I am a big fan of Musar I first drank it in Leeds around 1985 and I do not think the wine has moved forward in the way some other wines have. I have around 18 bottles left of all different years and at the current price will not be buying anymore.
I think that’s a really fascinating question in general, not just for Musar, well worthy of debate.
What would “move forward” look like? Evolving to reflect changing tastes? Using newer techniques to get a different and/or more consistent result? Something else? I’m not enough of a wine expert to know what would be considered measurable standards for improvement. Obviously wine often has vintage variation anyway, and Musar is certainly in that category.
Perhaps, as @Andy999 has suggested (or at least how I read his post), whether plateauing is viewed as a good or bad thing might depend on how high the plateau is…
Change also often divides opinion, one person’s improvement may be another’s decline, in the highly subjective world of wine.
Perhaps it hasn’t moved on… but there’s something quite nice about that. Small change in that 2016 was released a year early, and there have been quite a few library releases last year (clearing up cellar space). Even still there is enough vintage and bottle variation to keep us on our toes! The rose is quite a interesting one, if you can find it; and the Jeune wines are pretty good, if uncomplicated. I wonder if things might be changing since Serge died a few years ago.
I think a lot of Musar fans will be praying it doesn’t ‘move on’, just as aficionados of traditional Rioja worry that old school wines may lose their unique character due to global market tastes or climate change.
Whether Musar is still a value buy at its ever-increasing prices is another matter though.
The price has been creeping up but occasionally there are relative bargains to be had. I took delivery of a case of 6 Chateau Musar 2016, just today in fact. 25% off at Waitrose and after applying 5.95% cashback (via topcashback) and factoring in 1.25% reward value of the JL Partnership card usage the per bottle delivered price was £24.36. You have to work for it and exercise patience but decent VFM can still be found.
I’m equally unclear about what a “move forward” would entail and what would make it desirable. I may even suggest Musar moves on a different plane; any vintage you pick will move you in some direction not bound by points of the compass, altitude or time’s arrow.