Serge Hochar made Lebanese wines famous worldwide during the country’s civil war, between 1975 and 1990.

Serge Hochar, the man behind Chateau Musar and who put Lebanese wines on the world stage, died in a swimming accident in Mexico late in December.

Chateau Musar was started in the 1930s by Hochar’s father, Gaston. Following a family tradition of studying in France, Serge was sent to study oenology in Bordeaux and returned as the chief winemaker in 1959.

Winemaking at Musar took a different direction at this time thanks to great vintages, especially in 1967. It was this vintage that exploded Musar on the world stage when the highly respected master of wine Michael Broadbent selected it as “the discovery” of the Bristol Wine Fair in 1979.

Although I introduced Musar to Malta in 1997, I had never had the pleasure of meeting Hochar. However, I have vivid recollections of my father-in-law, who was half French and also involved in wine, recounting how at the wine fair, he was pleased and relieved to find someone who spoke French. Indeed, it was my father-in-law who suggested to Broadbent to taste the wine. Some time later, Hochar sent him three cases of the 1964 vintage as a thank you gift. We drank the last three bottles only recently.

This success attracted a lot of wine and media attention, especially when it was realised how difficult it was to make wine in Lebanon during the country’s civil war (1975-1990).

As the wine ages, it becomes younger and bigger

It is indeed an astonishing achievement that with the exception of 1976, in which wine was not made at all, and 1984, which yielded a very small quantity, wine was produced every year. Among the many international awards and recognitions, the influential wine magazine Decanter honoured Hochar with the Decanter Man of the Year title in 1984.

Hochar’s wines were – and are – some of the most unique in the world. Every vintage brings on new and different winemaking techniques and nuances. His philosophy was to keep the characteristics of the vintage as natural as possible by eliminating the use of sulphur and by changing the blend of grapes according to their state at harvest.

Although most of the vineyard is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, some vintages had as little as 50 or 60 per cent in the final blends; the rest made up of Carignan, Grenache and Cinsault. Some others had 90 per cent Cabernet. It is not easy to understand or appreciate. These are defiantly not the sort of wines you give to lovers of modern wine. The reds are high, sometimes dangerously high in volatile acidity. They are big bodied with high alcoholic content, earthy and rustic with a huge ageing potential.

They are aged in French oak for nearly three years and a further three to four years in bottle before they are released on the market. The whites are equally full-bodied, rich in flavour and long-lived.

In a recent interview Hochar said: “As the wine ages, it becomes younger and bigger.”

Always philosophical, he continued: “Why? I have no clue. This year I made my 56th vintage and I discovered that I would need 2,000 years to fully understand… Wine teaches you the philosophy of time, the philosophy of slowness.”

Lebanon is the cradle of wine as we know it. It was from here that Phoenician traders spread the vine and wine culture into the Mediterranean and eventually the world.

While the country was degenerating, making headlines with kidnappings, bombings and misery in the 1970s and 1980s, one man was making headlines in the wine world, keeping the spirit of an extremely cultured people alive.

Chateau Musar exploded on the world wine stage in 1979, which eventually led to an increase in popularity of all Lebanese wines. We owe it all to Hochar.

mike@michaeltabone.com