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span class="caption" style="width: 146px;">Chateau Musar RedChateau Musar wine is fascinating and a rarity.

Until recently, it has been unavailable in Jakarta, even at Al Nafoura, the Lebanese restaurant where Chateau Kefraya, another Lebanese wine, used to be featured.

So, the offering of four Chateau Musar wines for public tasting by Ralph Hochar ' one of the chateau's six owners ' at the Dimatique pavillion during the recent four-day Food and Hotel Indonesia 2013 expo in Kemayoran, North Jakarta meant that these wines would soon be available in town.

Undecanted, the almost brick red, smooth Chateau Musar Red 2000 (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault, Carignan) was a somewhat disjointed wine with 'funk' flavors reminiscent of marinated Chinese bamboo shoots and the pungency of kimchi with little fruitiness and pronounced acidity.

For Hochar, however, it exhibited flavors of black Morello cherry, spices, cigar box and ripe raspberry' but red fruit was the only flavor I could relate to.

Last decade's best vintages were 2004 and 2003 with the latter delivering 'more punch', Hochar said, adding that Chateau Musar Red will age for 25-30 years and is recommended to drink 15 years after harvest.

Another divergence emerged with Chateau Musar White 2004, whose sweetness-suggesting yellow color was as deceiving as it was dry.

Presenting it only on the expo's final day, Hochar likes to have it at room temperature, which I do not as warmth makes it dull, woody, rough, acidic and it loses its freshness.

Though he told me: 'It closes when cold', I managed to drink it after an hour in an ice bucket.

Its flavors resembled what he referred to as 'those of French Roussane and Marsanne wines' although it was made from grapes indigenous to Lebanon, Obaideh and Merwah, spent 12 months in French oak barrels and aged for six years before being released to the market.

At a colder temperature, the taste became markedly better but its sweet, complex honey, floral and sugarcane aromas when it was warm were not apparent.

'In great vintages such as 2003 and 1999, it is tastier and oily with flavors of petrol and minerality,' he said.

The wines' second labels, Musar Jeune Red 2009 (made from Cinsault, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon) and Musar Jeune White 2011 (made from Viognier, Vermention, Chardonnay), were fruitier, thus easier to enjoy.

The white was highly aromatic, floral, light, refreshing, delicious with vanilla and almond flavors. The red burst with red fruits underlined by good tannins and acidity.

Apparently, these Jeune wines are modern-style alternatives created to cater to international taste. With a lifespan of 5 years after harvest, they are not for ageing.

Wine drinking is, of course, a matter of preference, and so is winemaking.

It is clear that with the first two, Chateau Musar has what it takes to keep the 33-year-old family winemaking business and tradition intact and ensure the continuity of its viticultural identity and integrity.

It makes wine based on the 'as natural as possible' philosophy, said Hochar, which means no additives, minimum amount of sulfites as preservatives, and no filtering as evident from the sediment left in the bottle, because 'filtering will change the quality and nature of the wine'.

While this, Hochar acknowledged, may lead to inconsistency, he argued that just like humans, who may feel energetic one day and tired the next day, so is wine. 'Transportation may also affect its consistency,' he added.

Indeed, transporation is supposedly a tricky issue for Chateau Musar because grapes have to be transported from its vineyards in Baalbek in Bekaa Valley, which borders Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, to its winery in Ghazir on the Mediterranean Sea, thus crossing through war zones between Hezbollah and Israel.

'All the [truck] drivers risk their life to bring the grapes to Ghazir, which is a safer area, but this is not a problem' Hochar said, adding that 'for us, it is the same, whether or not there is war'.

'But you are producing wine, which is forbidden and associated with vices in Islam. Wouldn't Hezbollah be unhappy with it?' I asked.

'Well, Hezbollah is quite tolerant. They know that wine is an important part of the country's economy,' he said, 'just like in your country.'

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world and 60 percent of Lebanon are Muslims, and yet, wine is not forbidden and available in both Jakarta and Beirut's restaurants, bars and nightclubs, he pointed out.

'Moreover, drinking wine is a good way to relieve stress, especially in a war situation like in Lebanon, isn't it?' he concluded.

' Photos courtesy of Dimatique