Wake up and smell the orange blossoms and peaches because:
It’s Spring!
As you’re all “well aware,” May 9 was national Moscato day, a day randomly willed into existence by Gallo wines to “honor” and “celebrate” one of the world's most versatile and beloved grape varieties - Muscat (aka moscato).
From dry, crisp whites to lusciously sweet dessert styles, the Muscat grape offers a delightful range of styles, flavors and aromas.
National Moscato Day originated in 2012 as a marketing initiative by Gallo Family Vineyards, a major “player” in the “wine” industry, known for their “quaffable” jugs of supermarket zeus juice. Aiming to capitalize on the growing popularity of sweet Moscato wines in the United States, the Gallo Family designated May 9th as “National Moscato Day” (WOOHOO!!).
This annual “event” has become a “celebration” of Moscato wine, allowing producers like Gallo to engage with consumers, promote their products, and generate excitement around the Moscato varietal.
So needless to say, we’re “piggybacking” on this “wonderful trend” and tasting our merry little way through a handful of Muscat wines to review for you this week.
DID YOU KNOW… The Muscat grape is one of the oldest cultivated varieties on record, “affectionately” referred to by the ancient Romans referred as "the grape of the bees" alluding to its enticing floral and honeyed aromas that attracted bees.
The Varietal
Muscat, also known as Moscato in Italy and Moscatel in Spain and Portugal, is one of the oldest and most versatile grape “families” in the world. This “aromatic” white grape variety is renowned for its perfumed, floral, and “grapey” characteristics, commonly presenting with notes of rose petals, orange blossom, tangerine, mango, lychee, jasmine, and sweet spices.
Muscat encompasses over 200 different grape varieties 🤯, with the most “notable” being Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains and Muscat of Alexandria. Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains is highly regarded for its superior flavor profile and ageability, while Muscat of Alexandria is known for its hardiness and ease of cultivation.
While many wine lovers associate Moscato with the slightly fizzy, semi-sweet wines of Italy's Piedmont region like Moscato d'Asti and similar renditions of the style from New World producers, the Muscat variety actually produces a diverse array of styles. The dry, highly aromatic Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains from regions like Alsace, for example, offer intense floral and citrus notes. These crisp, light-bodied whites make a refreshing aperitif or pairing for lighter dishes.
On the sweeter end of the spectrum are fortified Muscats like France's “decadent” Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, with its rich notes of orange blossom, honey and ripe stone fruits.
Italy's Moscato d'Asti and the lower-alcohol Moscato wines from “New World” regions like California and South Africa can offer a (hopefully) well-balanced sweet treat, with vibrant peach, apricot and lemon flavors complemented by a light spritz.
Some Key Regions & Styles
The bullet points…
Muscat is frequently use to make sweet wines (through fortification, botrytization, or cooling to halt fermentation)
These sweet wines can range in quality from outstanding and dope af, to cheap, easy drinking, and terrible 🤗 🌈
Some regions make high quality dry styles, but this is much less common (Alsace, some parts of South Africa, etc)
In Chile & Peru it is also used to make the grape brandy “Pisco”
Moscato d’Asti
Moscato d’Asti is one of the most famous wines made from the Muscat grape. The winemaking process for Moscato d'Asti is unique (LIKE TODAY’S YOUTH). The wine is made from ripe Moscato Bianco grapes, which are gently crushed to extract the juice (must). The must is then immediately chilled to near-freezing temperatures which halts the initial fermentation, preserving the natural sugars and aromatic muscat “character.”
The chilled must is then warmed to 16-18°C and inoculated with selected yeasts to restart fermentation in pressurized tanks called autoclaves. This fermentation is stopped early by re-chilling the partially fermented wine, leaving residual sugar levels of at least 120 g/L (more sugar than Coca-Cola!). This arrests fermentation at around 5-7% alcohol by volume, giving Moscato d'Asti its signature sweet yet gently fizzy style [JOKE]. The wine is then filtered and bottled under a light carbon dioxide pressure of 2.5 bars, providing its delicate sparkle. By law, Moscato d'Asti must be aged for a minimum of one month after this arrested fermentation before bottling [CUE LAUGH TRACK].
Southern Rhone & Southern France
Muscat is an important variety in the Southern Rhone and parts of Southern France (sounds redundant due to the position of Southern Rhone in France, but “Southern France” in wine terms typically refers to the regions that stretch to the coast south of the Rhone, like Languedoc-Roussillon & Provence), where it is used primarily to make sweet fortified wines.
The most famous of these is perhaps Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, an AC in the Southern Rhone for fortified sweet wines made entirely from the Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains variety (the higher quality, small berry Muscat variety we mentioned earlier).
This week, we’ve tasted 3 examples from a lesser known area further south, where a similar style is made in the high altitude, limestone plateau vineyards of St. Jean de Minervois. This small appellation (~700 acres) is just north of the much larger Minervois appellation, and is comprised almost entirely of plantings of Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains.
The grapes are usually picked in whole bunches in phases to guarantee the healthiest ripest bunches are used, and the wines are typically stored in inert vessels to protect them from oxidation as much as possible prior to bottling.
The fortified wines made in this style are typically sweet, highly aromatic wines, with stone fruit, tropical fruit, honeyed and floral character. They can (and are often meant to) be enjoyed young, but some of the best examples are ageworthy and will evolve for years in the bottle.
Profile: Peach, apricot, lychee, pineapple, grapefruit peel, honey, white flowers
Palate: Medium-sweet, medium body, medium+ acidity, medium finish
This is a highly aromatic wine dominated by ripe stone fruits, tropical fruits and floral notes. The wine clearly has some residual sugar, but it’s balanced by sufficient acidity. Not a very complex wine, but well made for the style and price point.
For $11, this is not a bad entry into Muscat, and it represents a “dessert” style that is on the lower end of the spectrum in terms of sweetness (still far from dry).
Palate: Sweet, lightly sparkling, light body, medium+ acidity, short finish
This wine is very aromatic with floral and stone fruit aromatics dominating the aroma and palate, coupled with an embarrassment of residual sugar (THE SWEET KIND!). In my opinion, this wine doesn’t have sufficient acidity to balance the extreme level of sweetness (19.5 g sugar per 5 ounce serving as prominently shown on the “nutrition facts” on the back label!).
Unfortunately a dud, definitely not a recommendation at this price.
Palate: Sweet, medium- acid, full body, long finish
Really beautiful and pronounced aromas. Ripe tropical fruits and stone fruits are joined by fresh floral and citrus notes on the nose. Flavors really carry through to the finish. All around a really nice example of the style.
Palate: Sweet, medium acid, full body, medium+ finish
Concentrated flavors, more beautiful aromatically than on the palate, almost has a tea-like bitterness in the aftertaste in spite of being a sweet wine. Balance is a little off as it reads quite hot (though not too surprising at 15% abv). All around pretty solid example, but of the three tasted from this region, this one scored the lowest.
Palate: Sweet, medium acid, full body, long finish
A beautiful deep gold color, this is the only vintage example of the bunch. It has a little bit of age on it as well, which comes through in the oxidative and caramelized character. Reminded me of a PX sherry. Well balanced, alcohol is well integrated, long finish. Really nice dessert wine.
93 points.
While us in-house Tannic Panickers aren’t generally the biggest fans of sweeter wine styles, it’s always fun to make a little foray into that world and explore what’s out there.
We did our best to objectively evaluate these based on quality, but personal preference is always going to be subjective, so we recommend really trying a few different options before making up your mind about a particular varietal or style.
We found some really strong examples from Saint Jean de Minervois, but we only really scratched the surface on some other styles out there. We did not explore the great dry examples from Alsace, or the famed lusciously sweet examples of Rutherglen which can age for decades in the bottle. And of course, we only tasted one example of Asti (arguably the most famous style of Muscat wine in the world) and this one did not score highly.
But does that mean that Asti in general is of poor quality?
The central thesis of this little rant is that with so many regions globally producing some kind of muscat wines, there’s bound to be something out there that tickles your fancy, so don’t write them all off if you’ve had one or even several bad experiences with them. One bad Asti doesn’t mean they all suck. Or do they?
You tell us.
Until next time. HAPPY DRINKING PEOPLE.
Cheers!
Isaac & Zach
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I have such a soft spot for Muscat. So I thoroughly enjoyed your post. I have a thing for florally aromatic grapes that can adapt to a range of expressions...and are conveniently easier to spot in a blind! I haven't tasted the KWV in forever. But in the interest of versatility...I'm a big fan of the City on a Hill Muscat d'Alexandrie..she dry AF! Also...ain't nobody gonna argue with Vin de Constance...albeit a bit of a rare treat! Thanks for writing about one of my favourite grapes that is too often maligned.
I have such a soft spot for Muscat. So I thoroughly enjoyed your post. I have a thing for florally aromatic grapes that can adapt to a range of expressions...and are conveniently easier to spot in a blind! I haven't tasted the KWV in forever. But in the interest of versatility...I'm a big fan of the City on a Hill Muscat d'Alexandrie..she dry AF! Also...ain't nobody gonna argue with Vin de Constance...albeit a bit of a rare treat! Thanks for writing about one of my favourite grapes that is too often maligned.