Muscat

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Name Variations

 * Moscatel
 * Muscatel
 * Muscadel
 * Moscato

About Muscat
Wikipedia Article About Muscat on Wikipedia

A sweet dessert wine that has a distinctive musty flavor. The wine is made from a variety of white and black Muscat grapes, resulting in a color that varies from golden to darker amber.

Muscat is widely grown in Portugal and Spain, where the grape and the wines produced from it are known as Moscatel or Muscatel. Among these wines is Moscatel de Setubal a sweet fortified wine from the Setúbal Peninsula in Portugal. Moscatel de Favaios is a Moscatel from the Douro Region. A Moscatel Madeira wine is also produced on the island of Madeira, although Moscatel has become increasingly rare there over the last century.

A variety of muscat is one of only three grapes allowed for making sherry.

In Australia, producers in Rutherglen use muscat grapes to make a highly regarded fortified wine of the same name using the solera system. Muscat grapes are one of the major varieties grown for table wine in Chile, and is a minor variety in California and Italy.

In Lithuania it is used for sparkling wine like Alita.

Muscat wine is also the basis for the brandy like Pisco, made in Peru and Chile, and Metaxa, a liqueur made in Greece.

Muscat Ottonel is also successfully grown by a few vineyards in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, USA. Currently it is produced into a Alsatian styled wine by McGregor Vineyard Winery on Keuka Lake.

Muscat is also used to make a range of French and Italian wines, such as the famous 'Muscat de Beaumes de Venise' vin doux naturel wines from the Rhone Valley in France. Languedoc is the largest production area of muscat grapes, divided over five appellations, Rivesaltes, Saint Jean de Minnervois, Frontignan, Mireval and Lunel, as well as the IGP Vin de Pays wines. You can find a range of expressions of muscat, from crisp, dry still or sparkling wines through off dry to moelleux and naturally sweet wines to rich, opulent aromatic vin doux naturel and late harvest sweet wines. In Italy, it is widely used in sweeter sparkling wines like Asti. Their 'grapey' quality makes many wines made from Muscat easy to identify.