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Welcome to That Useful Wine Site!
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(Synonyms: Bela Dinka, Beli Muskat, Beyaz Misket, Bornova Misketi, Brown Muscat, Franczier Veros Muscatel, Frontignac, Gelber Muskateller, Moscatel Branco, Moscatel Castellano, Moscatel Commun, Moscatel de Grano Menudo, Moscatel de Grano Pequeno, Moscatel do Douro, Moscatel Fino, Moscatel Galego Branco, Moscatel Morisco, Moscatello Blanco, Moscatello Bianco di Basilicata, Moscatello di Saracena, Moscatello di Taggia, Moscato Bianco, Moscato di Chambave, Moscato d’Asti, Moscato dei Colli Euganel, Moscato di Momiano,Moscato di Montalcino, Moscato di Tempio, Moscato di Trani, Moscato Reale, Moschato Aspro, Moschato Kerkyas, Moschato Lefko, Moschato Mazas, Moschato Samou, Moschato Spinas, Moschato Trani, Moschoudi, Moschoudi Proïmo, Moscovitza, Muscat à Petits Grains Blanc, Muscat Blanc, Muscat Canelli, Muscat d’Alsace, Muscat de Die, Muscat de Frontignan, Muscat Frontignan, Muscat de Lunel, Muscat de Valais, Muscat Sámos, Muskadel, Muskateller, Muskati, Piros Muskátoly, Rumeni Muškat, Sárga Muskotály, Tămâloasă Alba, Tămâloasă Româescă, Tamjanika, Tamnjanika, Tamyanka, Temjanika, Weisse Muskatraube, Weisser Muskateller, White Frontignan)
Background
The story of Muscat is complicated, chiefly because the ancestral grape is ancient—it was in common use by the Greeks (as Anathelicon moschaton and the Romans (as Uva Apiane), and has had numerous travels since. Actually, even that is a gross over-simplification, because it refers to the particular Muscat grape we are considering here, the Muscat Blanc (or, more fully, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, aka Moscato Bianco, Muscat Canelli, and a lot more—look at the list a bit up-page); the Muscat family of grapes comprises many more types (over 200!) with which we will not deal here. As best anyone knows, their origins lie in Greece. It should be noted here that Muscat Blanc is today widely considered one of the dozen and a half or so “Noble wine grapes” of the world.
As the name implies, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains is used to make white wines (as are most but by no means all Muscat grapes). The Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains grape is pretty much universally considered to be not merely the easy champion of the entire Muscat family, but one of the dozen and a half or so of world-class white-wine grapes.
Traditionally, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains (like all the Muscats) has been used to make dessert wines, and as with several other grape types (Semillon, Petit Menseng, Malvasia, Corvina, and more), it is the eminence of those sweet wines that tends to include the grape types in “world’s greatest” lists. Nonetheless, also as with all those others, when vinified dry with some respect, it makes excellent table wines (and it is those that we deal with here—we do not deal with dessert wines).
Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains is now grown in many locations, from its home in Greece (where dry examples are rare) to Italy, France, South Africa, Portugal, the U.S., and Australia, where it is usually called “Brown Muscat”, or sometimes “Frontignan”. (By law, American-made Muscat Blancs can only be labelled “Muscat Blanc” or “Muscat Canelli”.) But the primary sources of dry Muscats are Alsace and the northern reaches of Italy (Trentino-Alto Adige).
(Actually, we have over-simplified a bit: there is a mutation of Muscat Blanc with light-red grapes known as “Moscato Rosa”—and, as always, a few other names; it is that variant that the Australians refer to with the name “Brown Muscat”.)
As you will see below, descriptions of the wine tend to be brief and repetitious: grape-y, with overtones of orange plus the usual roster of floral/spice suspects. And, in truth, it’s hard to augment that much. The essence of dry Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains (as with dry Malvasia) is to retain the floral and fruity/spicy quality (especially in the nose), with a good acid balance; poorly made ones are either not all that “dry”, or else have lost sublety. Good ones are (again, as with Malvasias) truly remarkable.
Factoid: Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains is said to be almost the only grape whose wine actually smells and tastes like grapes.
“Young, unaged and unfortified examples of Muscat blanc tend to exhibit the characteristic Muscat ‘grapey’ aroma as well as citrus, rose and peach notes.”
“This sort of Muscat is capable of producing wines with real finesse and a particularly pure, floral sort of grapiness…So much Muscat is planted in the south of France in fact that there has been a fashion for making it into dry white table wines, full-bodied whites with an eerily grapey aroma but hardly any perceptible sugar on the palate. Muscat du Cap Corse made from this particular Muscat in the far north of Corsica was for long one of the island’s most impressive wines.”
“Each muscat produces, with subtle variation, wines with the distinct, intense, aromatic, rosy-sweet, and easily-recognized scent of muscat and, unusual for most wine varieties, that actually taste like grapes…Fruit: fresh grapes, peach. Perfume: muscat (terpene). Floral: rose petal. Spice: coriander.”
“The heady, explosive aromas of Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains reflect the crisp flavors of the grapes. This varietal aroma of this grape is wild and musky, a slightly animal-like expression of rosewood and litchi. These notes are accompanied by fruitier touches—grapefruit, fresh-squeezed orange juice and exotic fruits—as well as floral notes such as jasmine, lemon grass and verbena…When its yields are limited, Muscat à Petits Grains Blancs has a high sugar potential with well-balanced acidity and intense flavors, at once powerful and delicate.”
There are many grapes in the Muscat family, but this one, also called Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, is the noblest of them all. Fine renditions are made all over the world and labeled under a bewildering range of synonyms, but when styled as a dry table wine, only a few wines from Alsace and the Austria’s Wachau region can touch Styria’s best. Soaringly fragrant but still light and fresh, they are superb partners for moderately spicy foods, and are amazingly durable in a cool cellar.
“The wines are often described as having bergamot (Citrus Bergamia) or lemon grass flavours that are powerful and delicate at the same time. In addition, sweet and spicy flavours are also present.”
“The family of Muscat grapes is large, but all the members share a flowery, strongly aromatic character, like the smell and taste of Muscat table grapes.”
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Some Descriptions of Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains Wines
“Young, unaged and unfortified examples of Muscat blanc tend to exhibit the characteristic Muscat ‘grapey’ aroma as well as citrus, rose and peach notes.”
“This sort of Muscat is capable of producing wines with real finesse and a particularly pure, floral sort of grapiness…So much Muscat is planted in the south of France in fact that there has been a fashion for making it into dry white table wines, full-bodied whites with an eerily grapey aroma but hardly any perceptible sugar on the palate. Muscat du Cap Corse made from this particular Muscat in the far north of Corsica was for long one of the island’s most impressive wines.”
“Each muscat produces, with subtle variation, wines with the distinct, intense, aromatic, rosy-sweet, and easily-recognized scent of muscat and, unusual for most wine varieties, that actually taste like grapes…Fruit: fresh grapes, peach. Perfume: muscat (terpene). Floral: rose petal. Spice: coriander.”
“The heady, explosive aromas of Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains reflect the crisp flavors of the grapes. This varietal aroma of this grape is wild and musky, a slightly animal-like expression of rosewood and litchi. These notes are accompanied by fruitier touches—grapefruit, fresh-squeezed orange juice and exotic fruits—as well as floral notes such as jasmine, lemon grass and verbena…When its yields are limited, Muscat à Petits Grains Blancs has a high sugar potential with well-balanced acidity and intense flavors, at once powerful and delicate.”
There are many grapes in the Muscat family, but this one, also called Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, is the noblest of them all. Fine renditions are made all over the world and labeled under a bewildering range of synonyms, but when styled as a dry table wine, only a few wines from Alsace and the Austria’s Wachau region can touch Styria’s best. Soaringly fragrant but still light and fresh, they are superb partners for moderately spicy foods, and are amazingly durable in a cool cellar.
“It’s a varietal that can make fresh and exotic wines, eliciting aromas of peach, rose petal and sweet citrus.”
“The wines are often described as having bergamot (Citrus Bergamia) or lemon grass flavours that are powerful and delicate at the same time. In addition, sweet and spicy flavours are also present.”
“The family of Muscat grapes is large, but all the members share a flowery, strongly aromatic character, like the smell and taste of Muscat table grapes.”
“Grapey, and almost always quite perfumed (or aromatic, depending upon which word you prefer).”
“Dry varietal wines show a range of citrus, floral and spice aromas, with a full, dry palate.”
“Characteristics of the grape: aromatic, orange, orange blossom, orange peel, white flowers, dried and fresh apricots, honey, musk perfume.”
“Orange, Demerara, barley sugar and raisin are some of the flavours for which it is famous.”