The colour is a bit darker than usual, and when I decanted the wine, there was, as always, some fine sediment in the bottom.
After some hours of air to let the usual Musar funk blow off, the nose is beautiful, complex and filled with oriental spices, cedar, violets, figs, dung, dusty road and tar. The palate is quite tannic for a Musar, earthy, with nice acidity, some sweetness and good length.
Compared to the very nice 99, this vintage feels a bit colder, not as flirty, and a clearly younger wine. And if the 99 was kind of burgundic (for me at least), 2000 is more italian, almost like a Barbaresco; flowers, tar and a quite dominating scent of earth and dusty road. This vintage also resembles the Musar 1977 I had a while ago, it has the same earthy qualities.
Very nice, but I think I'll try to get my hands on a couple of 99's before they dissapear...
(Later in the evening, we have a Rioja, Baron de Lay Reserva 2001. It strikes me how many similarities the Musar and this Rioja has; the velvety but still acidic mouthfeel, the elegant tannins, the barnyard, the spicy nose. The Musar is, of course, the superior wine though)
) variation.