Muscat

Wine Style:
Medium-bodied white from bone dry to rich, sweet wines.

Flavors:

Origin:
Alscace in France, and Italy

Found:
France, Italy, and Australia

Muscat refers to a family of grapes of which there are around 200 different branches. Muscat Blancs à Petits Grains is the most noble of the variety and makes the best and most distinctive wines. 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 Italy it’s known as Moscato where this variety is the basis or backbone for Spumante from Northern Italy.

In Alsace 2 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.

In Australia Muscat à Petit Grains is used to produce the fortified Liqueur Muscats of Victoria. These are extraordinary wines - dark and treacly with a sensational perfume of orange, raisins and honey with David Morris producing the finest examples.

Further Reading:
Epicurious
Wine Pros
Wikipedia