MUSCAT

The Muscat family of grapes include over 200 different grape varieties that have been used in wine production and as raisin and table grapes around the globe for many centuries. Muscat Blancs à Petits Grains, is the most noble of the variety and is the primary grape variety used in the production of the Italian sparkling wine Asti (also known as Moscato Asti) made in the Piedmont region. It is the only wine grape that produces wines that actually taste of grapes, and can produce a range of wines from pale, bone dry whites, through to golden yellow, rich, sweet wines.

In Alsace, two types of Muscat are grown - Muscat Blancs à Petits Grains and Muscat Ottonel. They are usually blended to produce wines that tend to be light and dry with a fruity, musky character and an intensely aromatic bouquet.

Intensely sweet late harvest wines are also produced. Muscat de Beaumes de Venise is one of the best Vin Doux Naturels in France. This is produced by adding grape spirit to the partly fermented must - the best producers, such as Domaine de Durban, produce deliciously sweet wines with rich grapey aromas balanced by fruity acidity.

In Australia Muscat à Petit Grains is used to produce the fortified Liqueur Muscats of Victoria (esp. Rutherglen). These are extraordinary wines - dark and treacly with a sensational perfume of orange, raisins and honey.

Muscat of Alexandria is another Muscat variety commonly used in the production of French vin doux naturel, but it is also found in Spain, where it is used to make many of the fortified Spanish Moscatels. Muscat of Alexandria is cultivated very heavily on the island of Lemnos in the North Eastern Aegean region of Greece and reputedly Cleopatra drank muscat wine from there. In Italy wine is made from the grape on the island of Pantelleria and it is grown in Calabria and Sicily where it is known as Zibibbo.