Dry Muscat from Spain?

[Jason Perlow]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/936621.asp?0dm=L21AL

Anyone tried any wines like these?

I've never had a non-dessert muscat...

[Tonyfinch]

Non dessert Muscat is made widely in Alsace.

[Carema]

Beautiful lovely dry muscats from Portugal too. There is one available in the Mid western market from Joao Pires from the wine region of Terras do Sado. Also in Austria dry muscat wines made from muskateller (that's the name there)- Gross and Tement make fabulous ones and those both are sold by Vin Di Vino who have national distribution. Apparently (side note) the Muscat grape is very appropriate for a table grape although I have never had one this way (unfermented and put straight into mouth). Those dry muscats have decent acidity and this bitter orange/lemony must to them, then underneath some apricoty falvors and again some more mustiness. They are not the cleanest wines in the world but sometimes a little dirty is not a bad thing.

[carswell]

Alsatian dry muscats make a delightful aperitif. They are also one of the few wines that pair nicely with asparagus (although, oddly, my Alsatian acquaintances all consider beer the beverage of choice with that vegetable).

Dry muscats are also found in the south of France. Chapoutier makes a delicious (not a word I usually associate with them) Muscat Sec as well as Cigala, a blend of muscat and macabou. Both are Vins de pays des Côtes Catalaines and real QPR winners; the Cigala retails here for US$8, one of the cheapest truly drinkable whites around.

Last I heard, Argentina's torrontés grape was thought to be related to muscat. Certainly the wines made from it have a muscat-like aroma. They, too, are great bargains.

One thing to bear in mind: there are several varieties of muscat and not all are of equal quality.

Carema, muscat is indeed a splendid table grape: fat, juicy and honeyed. The ones we see tend to come from Sicily. In fact, muscat is (I believe) the only common table grape that is also commonly used to make wine (setting aside some North American varieties and French hybrids).

Edited July 15, 2003 by carswell (log)

[Carema]

One thing to bear in mind: there are several varieties of muscat and not all are of equal quality.

Blanc, Ottonel, and Alexandria. Are we missing any? And because I do not know this, how do they stack up quality wise? My inkling would be in order: 1)Ottonel, 2) Alexandria and 3) blanc. Can you weigh in on this carswell? And, are some varieties more widely found in certain areas etc. In other words, carswell, dissertation please.

[melkor]

Here is a dissertation on different muscat varieties.

[Bux]

I've had dry muscats from Alsace as well as the Bas Languedoc (Pays d'Oc. I'm trying to think where else I've seen them from. I'm drawing a blank, but it may have been Spain.

[Carema]

oooh. I want the Jesus Muscat now (read dissertation). Then I could have the L'Enfant from Beaune and the LaCryma Christi (tears of Christ) from Vesuvio. Any other theological wines out there? Should I have started a new thread? This could tie into Craig's odd but strangely intriguing "heaven wine" dream sequence. In fact my next soiree shall only involve wines that invoke the lord's good name. Let us make a list. We could serve unending fish and unleavened bread. Does anyone have any liquamen handy?????

PS Found the dissertation greatly educative. Only having a bit of fun here getting drunk on a Tuesday night.

[carswell]

Beat to the punch. Should get in the habit of checking the Web before hitting the books... Anyway, I'll go ahead and post as this contains a few tidbits not covered in the linked dissertation. The following info comes a bit from my brain and a lot from reference books, mainly Robinson's Vine, Grapes and Wines (which has finally been reissued, and in an affordable soft cover edition) and indispensable Oxford Companion to Wine. Excuse the redundancies with melkor's link, but I've spent enough time on this already and don't feel like revising it further.

Blanc, Ottonel, and Alexandria. Are we missing any? And because I do not know this, how do they stack up quality wise? My inkling would be in order: 1)Ottonel, 2) Alexandria and 3) blanc. Can you weigh in on this carswell? And, are some varieties more widely found in certain areas etc.

You've got the three top varieties but in the wrong order.

Muscat blanc à petit grains is considered the finest. The grapes are smaller and rounder than most other varieties and, name notwithstanding, can be white, pink, red or black. This is the grape used in Frontignan and Asti, where it bears the regional name (muscat de Frontignan, moscato d'Asti). It is also known as muskateller, moscato bianco, moscatel de grano menudo, muscat canelli, brown muscat (in Australia) and muskadel (in South Africa). It may be the oldest cultivated wine grape variety and is thought to rank 12th in acerage in the world. It buds early, which effectively limits it to warm climates. It was the first muscat planted in Alsace (and it still goes under the name muscat d'Alsace), although it has since been replaced by muscat ottonel. All moscato d'Asti and Asti spumante and most of the finest sweet muscats of southern France (e.g. Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, St-Jean-de-Minervois, Frontignan) are made from this variety.

In terms of acerage, muscat of Alexandria is almost as popular as muscat blanc à petits grains, although it is losing ground to that variety in the south of France, Spain and South Africa. It is especially tolerant of hot climates but tends to produce very sweet grapes and heavy, unsubtle wines. Much of the fruit goes for uses other than wine; for example, nearly all of California's crop is made into raisins, much of Chile's into pisco. The grape goes under many names, including moscatel de España, muscat romain, zibibbo and mocatel gordo. Most Spanish moscatello is made from muscat of Alexandria, as are most French muscats from the Côtes Catalains region (e.g. Rivesaltes). It is also the predominant muscat variety in Turkey, Israel, Tunisia and Sicily, where it is used to make Moscato di Pantelleria. Surprisingly or not, it takes a back seat to muscat blanc à petit grains in Greece.

Either or both muscat blanc à petits grains and muscat of Alexandria are used to make dry muscats in southern France and Spain. Dry muscats from this region are a recent invention and were first developed as a way of using grapes not needed for sweet wines, which suffered from declining popularity.

In colour and aroma, muscat ottonel is the palest of muscats. It is probably a recent arrival; some trace its origin to the mid-1800s and claim it is a cross between the chasselas table grape and the inferior muscat de Saumur. Early ripening, it is better suited to cooler climates: Alsace, Austria, the Ukraine, Romania, etc. Nearly all Alsatian muscat wine and most Austrian is made from this variety.

Although grown mainly as a table grape, muscat Hamburg is used to make wine in eastern Europe. In China, wine is made from crosses between it and the indigenous Vitis amurensis grape.

Edited July 15, 2003 by carswell (log)