Two lovely wines drank this weekend - Lebanon and Burgundy

I've been busy writing the website entries for all of the new wines coming in next week (including Mas Foulaquier and Domaine de La Marfée), so there's not been much opportunity to write up the final instalment from the Vinisud trip. I'll add that within the next day or two. Meanwhile, it is the weekend, so time to open a nice bottle or two - and these have gone down particularly well....

Hochar Pere et Fils 2002 - Chateau Musar, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. I've heard great things about the 2003 vintage of this wine, but I saw the 2002 in a local shop today (which seems to stock the whole range, including Ch Musar 2002 red, 2003 white, 200(?) rosé and 200(?) Hochar white) so I took a chance. Actually, it is really rather good. Traces of the hallmark Musar volatile acidity - though somewhat less overt than in the "grand vin" - with old oak/cedar, poached raspberry and plum, wild strawberry, tea, forest floor and subtle hints of herb and allspice. The palate is velvety and warming, with a decent, long-ish finish. The tannins are quite soft, but there is a lovely backbone of acidity (the normal kind!) which combines beautifully with the almost sweet red and black fruit flavours. The result is tangy, almost sweet and sour. This is the first Hochar Pere et Fils I have tasted in donkey's years, and I have to say I'm smitten. OK, so it is perhaps not as quirky as Musar itself, but (even at a relatively pricey £11.50 - for this cuvée, that is) it gives a lot of bang for your buck. Lovely stuff!

Since we were in danger of completely draining the Hochar Pere et Fils 2002 before we even sat down to eat, I thought I'd better revisit the wine we started (but did not finish) last night. As it is a Burgundy (which, in my experience, don't tend to keep too well once opened) I thought it might have gone past its best after 24 hours, but not a bit of it. In fact, it has actually improved - though it was nice to begin with.....

Domaine Gachot-Monot "Aux Crots" 2004 Nuits Saint Georges. Surprisingly light in colour - even for a red Burgundy - being a very pale carmine-red, verging on amber, with a watery rim. Compared to the Hochar, the nose is actually quite tarry and even quite masculine, but with some backgound notes of violets and roses, it also has its feminine side. The fruit aromas tend towards bramble, but there are also notes of morello cherry, raspberry and strawberry, along with very definite hints of rotting leaves and undergowth. The palate is also quite tarry, even a touch rustic, but there is also a degree of elegance and charm that (were I tasting blind) would lead me only to Burgundy. Like the Hochar, it is tangy, with an underlying core of sweet fruit, but the acidity is even more heightened - lovely to drink on its own, but even better with food. I have 2 or 3 more bottles of this tucked away and, although it is lovely to drink now (unusually, for 2004 Burgundy) I suspect it will age nicely for a few more years yet.