In 1930, at just 20 years old, Gaston Hochar founded Chateau Musar. He drew inspiration from Lebanon’s 6,000‑year winemaking tradition and from his travels in Bordeaux. His “wines with noblesse” impressed senior officers during the French mandate of the 1920s. Major Ronald Barton of Château Langoa‑Barton served in Lebanon during World War II and became a close friend. He strengthened the links between Chateau Musar and Bordeaux, and those ties remain strong today.
Serge Hochar, Gaston’s eldest son, first trained as a civil engineer. He later chose to study oenology. With his father’s encouragement, he studied under Emile Peynaud at the University of Oenology in Bordeaux.
He told his father, “I want to make the wine my way. I want it to be known worldwide — and I want you to quit!” Serge took over as Chateau Musar’s winemaker in 1959 when Gaston senior stepped aside. He spent 18 years refining the formula for Chateau Musar Red. In 1984, Decanter Magazine named him its first “Man of the Year” for his dedication to producing superb wines during Lebanon’s Civil War (1975–1990).
Serge had two sons, Gaston and Marc. Both studied engineering and later worked in the banking sector. Gaston now manages the daily operations of the Chateau Musar winery. Marc oversees its commercial activities.
“My brother looked after the liquid; I look after the liquidity.” Like Serge, Ronald Hochar began working at Musar from an early age. Both brothers washed bottles and worked at the winery before choosing different paths in the business. Ronald worked from 7am to 5pm in Ghazir and then spent his evenings at the Musar shop in Beirut. “We earned 5 Lebanese pounds a day,” he says. “I learned everything about selling from my father.”
Having studied law, Ronald’s good-humored contributions on the commercial and logistical fronts (against huge odds he kept Musar’s trucks running during the war) remain vital to the business. Ronald’s son Ralph worked with the on-trade sector in the United Kingdom until early 2017 and is now focusing on South East Asia from Chateau Musar’s UK office, while Ronald’s daughter Elsa produced a documentary film about Chateau Musar.
