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[CulinaryAlchemist]

Sweets for your Sweetie - It's February, the month of love... "Muscat Love" if you will (I hope I don't get sued by Capt & Tenille for that one)...

Wikipedia:
About the Grape:
The muscat family of grapes of the species Vitis vinifera is widely grown for wine, raisins and table grapes. Their color ranges from white to near black. Muscat almost always has a pronounced sweet floral aroma. Muscat grapes are grown around the world in Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, Israel, France, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Spain, Australia, California, Oregon, Hungary, Canada, Italy, Albania, Turkey, Slovenia, and other places. The breadth and number of varieties of muscat suggest that it is perhaps the oldest domesticated grape variety, and there are theories that most families within the Vitis vinifera grape family are descended from the Muscat family. Indeed, scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have analyzed pots from King Midas's burial mound and determined that Muscat grapes were a key component of the alcoholic beverage served at his funeral feast.

Varieties of the Grape:
* Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains (also called Muscat Blanc, Muscat Canelli, Muscat Frontignan, Moscato Bianco, Muscat de Frontignan, Muscat d'Alsace, Muskateller, Moscatel de Grano Menudo, Moscatel Rosé, Sárgamuskotály and Yellow Muscat). This grape is used for the wines: Asti, clairette de die, and muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise. It is also used for some Tokaji wines.
* Moscato Giallo (or Goldmuskateller) and Moscato Rosa (or Rosenmuskateller) are thought to be closely related colored versions of Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains.
* Moscatel de Setúbal and Moscatel de Favaios are the most widely consumed varieties in Portugal, usually served in bars or as an aperitif at restaurants.
* Muscat of Alexandria (also called Moscatel, Moscatel Romano, Moscatel de Málaga, Gordo Blanco, Hanepoot, Lexia, Moscatel Gordo, and Zibibbo) This grape is used for sherry, moscatel or muscatel wines, Moscatel de Valencia, Muscatel Passito and other Muscatel liqueurs and also as a raisin and table grape.
* Muscat Ottonel (also called Moskately) Used for dessert wines in Romania, Bulgaria, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia, and dry wines in Alsace and Hungary.
* Black Muscat (also called Muscat Hamburg, Moscato di Amburgo) Used for some Eastern European wine but mainly for table grapes in Italy and Australia. A dessert wine made from this grape is produced in California.
* Orange Muscat. Used for dessert wines in California and Australia. Not surprisingly, has something of an orange aroma.
* Muscat Crocant. Used for dessert wine of the same name (Muskat Krokan) in Serbia, where it grows only on Pearl Island (Biserno Ostrvo) on Tisza River.
* Moravian Muscat. The most widespread new wine cultivar in Czech Republic.

Muscat Wines:
Muscat grapes are one of the major varieties grown for table wine in Chile, and is a minor variety in California and Italy. Muscat Ottonel is also successfully grown by a few vineyards in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Currently it is produced into an Alsatian styled wine by McGregor Vineyard Winery on Keuka Lake.

In Italy, it is widely used in sweeter sparkling wines like Asti. Their 'grapey' quality makes many wines made from Muscat easy to identify. Moscato d'Asti is a lightly sparkling (frizzante) variety of Muscat, made from the Moscato Bianco (Muscato Canelli) grape of the Piedmont region of Italy. This region has a DOCG designation, and is also known for the production of Barbera d'Asti, Dolcetto d’Asti, and Asti Spumante. In Lithuania, it is also used for making a sparkling wine called Alita.

MY SCHTICK:
OK, now that I have copied in MASSIVE amounts of information, the following are the Muscats that I have seen and drank over the years...

Muskat, Moscato, Moscadelle, Muscatel, Moscato di'Asti (Just recently), Muscat Canelli, Orange Muscat, and Black Muscat.

They all taste different... Usually sweet fruits like Thompson seedless (Green) grapes and almost a banana flavor in some, although I find black muscat tastes like cherry cough syrup, they all have an underlying musky flavor that helps to give the "Sweet" a little more depth. Excellent for making Sparkling wines due to their high sugar content (For the second ferment). These wines, while VERY sweet, can be delicious when paired with like flavors such as Melon, Sweet Potatoes or Bananas, or when counter pointed with Blue cheeses, French Munster (not domestic) or W
Walnuts.

Cuisine-wise.... Italian dishes (Gnocchi in Gorgonzola Cream sauce with Walnuts), Indian, Japanese, Thai (Chicken/Mandarin Salad with crispy noodles) and Chinese (Right along with Gewurztraminer and Riesling)

Desserts you ask? Well, there is the Classic Tiramisu, Poached pears with mascarpone, Banana Cream Pie, Linzer cookies and Linzer torte (with Raspberries not Black Currants), and Stewed Rhubarb with Creme Fraiche and a hint of clove, which is particularly good with Orange Muscat....

ETA: OK... Here is the form that I forgot to post when I started the thread

Name:
Price:
Year:
PHOTO of bottle
Short intro from the wine maker about the wine:
Review:
Would you buy again?:
Wine Pairing Ideas/Recipes:
_________________
~ Shane


http://bakespace.com/?culinaryalchemist
http://www.twitter.com/CulinaryAlchemy

[Babette]

Nice... Love the intro. So Shane you won? If so, send me your address for a Penguin Wine Opener.. It's part of the perks! Joy, yours is here.. I've been meaning to go to the post office.. but with the kitchenaid promotion I've had a lot on my plate.

[spryte]

Yay!!!!

My friend is VERY excited that it's Muscat!

I'll be having a Valentine's Day wine tasting!
_________________
~Marguerite
Keepin' it green!

Spryte's Place Blog

[ddpie]

Wooooohooooooo! Great pick for the month of desserts Shane!

Me loves some Muscat! I've had Muscato, Muscato Di' Asti and I may have had the Canelli. There are several more that I've been wanting to try so I'll be jumpin' on the band wagon (wine cart, whatever)

[ImStuffed]

ok.....just added that to my grocery list.
_________________
Danielle
"Sometimes your knight in shining armor is just a re-tard in tin foil"

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[ImStuffed]

Hey Shane - do they have this wine at Traders? There's only one kind at my grocery store and its like 15 bucks....ouch Soooo, Lemme know cuz if they don't then I'll stop off at BevMo later in the week
_________________
Danielle
"Sometimes your knight in shining armor is just a re-tard in tin foil"

My Recipes: http://bakespace.com/?imstuffed
My Food Blog: http://peacefulcooking.blogspot.com/
My Fun Blog: http://letsridethebus.blogspot.com/
My Twitter: http://twitter.com/imstuffed

[CulinaryAlchemist]

Yes, Trader Joe's carries a couple of them, as well as Bev mo... Most Moscato di'Asti is about 10 buck a bottle... Moscato can be fairly cheap, and Muscat and Muscat Canelli can be anywhere from 4.99 to 27.00 depending... Orange muscat is usually about 13.00ish and I picked up a Muscadette and a Muscatelle out of France at Bev Mo for about 10.

OK, I don;t have the wine pic yet... But this was the dinner I had with my Muscat Canelli this evening... It really brought out the musk flavor in the wine and tamed the sweetness... I included about 1/4 cup of the wine (Reduced) in the pan sauce.

Roasted Red Pepper, Walnut and Gorzonzola Cream sauce over Gnocchi.



_________________
~ Shane


http://bakespace.com/?culinaryalchemist
http://www.twitter.com/CulinaryAlchemy

[ImStuffed]

you're not allowed to make my stomach growl while I'm still eating dinner!!!
_________________
Danielle
"Sometimes your knight in shining armor is just a re-tard in tin foil"

My Recipes: http://bakespace.com/?imstuffed
My Food Blog: http://peacefulcooking.blogspot.com/
My Fun Blog: http://letsridethebus.blogspot.com/
My Twitter: http://twitter.com/imstuffed

[CulinaryAlchemist]

Sorry bout that....
_________________
~ Shane


http://bakespace.com/?culinaryalchemist
http://www.twitter.com/CulinaryAlchemy

[joybowes]