Muscat Love

 So you’ve fallen in love with that new find, a trendy Pink Moscato wine that you found on the grocery store shelf with a sticker that says it’s only $5.99.  You’d be surprised to know that Moscato is actually one of the oldest domesticated grapes in the world with a long, luscious history.  Moscato, Moscatel and Moscadello grapes are all derived from the same geographically diverse, easy growing ancient grape varietal, Muscat.  The Egyptians and Persians were onto the fact that Muscat was a fabulous, quaffable deck wine as far back as 3,000 – 1,000 BC. There are four principal varieties of Muscat, in differing berry hues and intensities, which include Muscat Hamburg, Muscat of Alexandria, Muscat Blanc A Petits Grains (literally means small berries) and Muscat Ottonel.  To make this simple fact more confusing the name of the growing region is added to the grape name, while others, the name is altered slightly based on the location. For example Moscato di Asti (Italy) Muscat d’ Alsace (Austria), Moscatel (Spain), Muskateller (Germany) Tamaioasa Alba (Romania) Tokaji (Hungary), Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise (Loire), Muscat du Cap Corse (Corsica) and many, many more.  The Muscat grape lends itself to various wine-making styles and techniques unique to each wine region, so some Muscat wines can be mass produced (Pink Moscato of California), light and fizzy (Moscato di Asti - Italy), dry still wines (Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise - Loire) and also viscous, decadently sweet wine (Tokaji - Hungary).  Despite the numerous sobriquets and variety of styles, it doesn’t seem to matter where the grapes is grown or how the wine is made, but there is a universal love for Muscat. 

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