Chateau Marsyas Blanc 2009

Madness in a bottle...Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc blend from Lebanon?! What I love about wine is discovering something new, something different, something that challenges my opinions. This is a classic example

The only Lebanese wines I've tried have been from Chateau Musar, truly epic reds but the whites are disappointing,subconsciously I've tarnished all Lebanese whites with the same brush...but how wrong I was! If you come across this unique wine...buy it instantly, you won't be disappointed.

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Chateau Marsyas is in the Bekaa valley, 60km from Lebanon's capital city Beirut. It has a sister winery in Syria (Bargylus) but I've never seen a bottle, if anyone's tried it I'd love some feed back   After a inspirational trip to Bordeaux in the 90's the Saadés family started planting vines in 2004.

Focusing on classic Bordeaux varieties plus Mourvèdre, Chardonnay & Syrah. They've been producing Bordeaux style reds & white blends since 2007 & have gone from strength to strength.   

An impossible wine to pick at a blind tasting...the 2009 has a golden colour with perfumed floral aromas, plus honeysuckle, apples & peach melba yogurt. The liberal use of oak & maturity produces a fat style but happily it retains enough acidity that the citrus flavour really pack a punch.

All this & it's seriously long finish made it the white wine of the night but nobody in their right mind would have guessed it was a Chardonnay Sauvignon blend