Musar turns to Fells for UK distribution

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 31 January, 2023

Lebanese producer Chateau Musar is to join the John E. Fells & Sons portfolio, adding to the roll call of leading family estates the importer represents in the UK.

An iconic winery largely responsible for putting Lebanon on the modern vinous map, Musar’s range will be shown at the Fells portfolio tasting on 21 February, ahead of formerly joining the company on 3 April.

The estate will compliment a line-up that includes the likes of Fells shareholders Symington Family Estates, Familia Torres and Yalumba, plus others such as William Fevre, Guigal, Hugel and Vasse Felix, to name but a few.

• Read more: Harpers Lebanon Report 2023

Welcoming Musar to the portfolio, Fells MD Steve Moody said: “Family ownership has always been at the very heart of the Fells portfolio, so the addition of Chateau Musar – a globally recognised, family-owned winery – represents another special moment in our history, adding further strength to our unrivalled collection of family-owned wine producers.”

Chateau Musar’s chair Ronald Hochar added: “We have built and developed our own distribution in the UK since the early 1980s. We believe now is the right time to place the distribution of our wines with John E Fells as we reach the next phase of our growth and expansion in the UK market.”

The current Chateau Musar UK team will continue to represent the wines in Europe and Asia, with figurehead Jane Sowter remaining “closely aligned” with the UK market, where she will assume the role of Musar’s UK Brand Ambassador, working closely with the team at Fells.

Chateau Musar was founded in 1930 by Gaston Hochar, who established it as a benchmark Lebanese producer, achieving global reach by passionately extolling the quality of the wines. The estate is now run by the third generation of the family.

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