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Muscat ripe with summer opulence

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  • Muscat ripe with summer opulence

    The Washington Times
    June 2, 2004, Wednesday, Final Edition

    Muscat ripe with summer opulence;
    Big, sweet grape's a refreshing departure from fashionably dry drinks

    By Paul Lukacs, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

    Muscat is the forgotten grape, out of step and old-fashioned. But it
    also is the original grape - or at least as close to original as we're
    likely to taste. Most important, wines made from it can be delicious.

    Sugary or dry; sparkling, still or fortified, good muscats have a
    haunting, head-spinning perfume - floral notes akin to rose petals
    and orange blossoms, combined with echoes of luscious ripe summer
    fruits such as peaches and apricots. They're opulent wines, so even
    when vinified to dryness, they smell at least slightly sweet.

    That sweetness explains their current obscurity.

    Muscats have become the victims of the contemporary vogue for
    [supposedly] dry white wines flavored with vanilla-scented oak. When
    sweeter wines were more in vogue, they used to be much more popular,
    and odds are that they will become so again. But for now, flavor,
    rather than fashion, is the reason to drink them.

    Ampelographers, or grape scientists, have traced muscat to ancient
    Greece, making it the oldest grape variety being cultivated today.

    Wine growing is older still, going back about 8,000 years and
    originating east of the Black Sea in what now is Armenia and Georgia.
    No one knows exactly when the shift from wild vines to cultivated
    ones occurred, but the first planned vineyard likely bore fruit that
    tasted and smelled something like muscat.

    Three types of muscat are cultivated in vineyards across the globe.
    Muscat blanc a petits grains is the one the Greeks grew. [They still
    do, most notably on the island of Samos.] It tends to produce the
    finest wines - intense but at the same time refined and delicate.

    Muscat of Alexandria came next. As the name suggests, it probably
    originated in Egypt, and then was taken around the Mediterranean by
    the Romans.

    Widely planted today, much of the crop is used for table grapes and
    raisins. The last of the muscat litter is ottonel, a much more recent
    arrival, first propagated in a French nursery in the mid-19th century.

    To make things more confusing, the three muscats go by a host of other
    names, depending on where they're grown and what the local nomenclature
    may be. In addition, because they love to mutate and change, they all
    come in multiple clones, with berries of different colors and sizes,
    and [slightly] different aromas and flavors.

    In Italy, particularly Piedmont, muscat, or moscato, is often used
    to make sparkling wines. Some of the best come from vineyards near
    the town of Asti. Because of their relatively low alcohol levels,
    they are super summer sippers, especially before supper.

    Moscato d'Asti from Cascina la Spinetta [$20] and Marcarini [$17]
    both taste wonderfully bright and vibrant. Slightly sweeter, so
    equally good with a fruit dessert, is Michele Chiarlo's "Nivole"
    [$12 for a half bottle]. With any of these, buy only the 2003 vintage,
    as Moscato d'Asti deteriorates quickly with age.

    A less expensive and equally exciting sparkling muscat choice comes
    from the fairly obscure Clairette de Die appellation in the Drome
    valley of eastern France. Grape-growing here goes back at least as
    far as the Romans, Pliny the Elder having described sweet wine from
    Die as the best in all the empire.

    Clairette de Die is a misnomer, as the wine is made primarily from
    muscat blanc a petits grains, not clairette. But it can be delectable
    nonetheless.

    The firm of Jaillance makes an excellent one called "Cuvee Imperiale"
    that costs only about $13.

    Truly dry muscats are relatively rare, the grape naturally tending
    toward sweetness as its perfume intensifies. Alsace in northeastern
    France is the one place that excels with them. Epicures there consider
    muscat the perfect partner to the region's rich foie gras.

    Although admittedly less traditional partners, Indian and Thai dishes
    also go very well with spicy Alsatian muscat. That's why it's a great
    wine to have on hand when you're ordering takeout.

    A lot of Alsatian muscat is of the ottonel variety, although blanc
    a petits grains is cultivated in the region, as well. When looking
    for a dry rendition, ignore bottles that say "vendanges tardives"
    [late harvest], as they're likely to seem too sweet to drink with
    savory foods.

    Domaine Weinbach Muscat "Reserve" 2002 [$36] is beautifully crafted,
    with that firm's telltale minerality underlying the wine's delicate
    fruit flavor.

    Firmer and tighter, Marcel Deiss "Bergheim" 2001 [$30] proves extremely
    food-friendly. Not as complex but considerably less costly, Lucien
    Albrecht 2002 [$15] is full of vivacious spice.

    Many muscats come into their own with [or even as] dessert. The best
    known come from grapes grown near the town of Beaumes de Venise in
    France's southern Rhone valley.

    The wines here are called "vins doux natural," meaning they have been
    slightly fortified with grape spirit, thus arresting fermentation
    and retaining sweetness.

    Good examples include Domaine de Coyeaux [$15 for a half-bottle],
    Domaine de Durban [$30] and P. Jaboulet [$32], all from the 2001
    vintage. These would be excellent partners for fruit tarts or pies.

    A few American wineries make good, balanced dessert muscats. A
    consistent favorite comes from Robert Pecota in Calistoga in the
    Napa Valley. Named for his daughter, Pecota's Moscato d'Andrea [$15
    for a half-bottle] tastes clean and refreshing, with a lingering but
    not at all cloying finish. The grape is blanc a petits grains, here
    going by its Italian moniker, canelli, and 2001 is the current vintage.

    Finally, in Rutherglen in northeastern Victoria, Australia, vintners
    fortify and age muscat in old barrels, yielding wines they call
    "liqueurs." These dessert nectars display an oxidative rather than
    floral bouquet, so it's hard to believe they come from the muscat.
    But they do, and they can be outstanding, especially when paired
    with chocolate.

    Campbells and Chambers Rosewood are two producers that make some of
    the best examples of Ausie fortified muscat.

    Their basic cuvees average about 10 years of age. These wines cost
    about $16 for a half-bottle, are light amber and taste evocatively
    of dried fruits, caramel and toffee.

    Try them chilled with ice cream. The older versions are thicker,
    richer and even more expressive, but they cost upward of $70 per
    half-bottle, so they have to be considered extra-special treats.

    As with the younger, floral wines, fortified muscats taste truly
    distinctive. And that, when all is said and done, is why any wine is
    worth drinking - no matter what's in or out of vogue at any given time.
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