What is Moscato Wine

Firstly, I must point out that Moscato is the Italian way of saying Muscat. There are several selections of the Muscat grape and it is considered the mother of many grape varietals. Although Moscato and Muscat wines are often sweet, they do not have to be sweet. Muscat is a very aromatic grape that often displays vivid floral and stone fruit aromas.

Moscato d’Asti is the most prevalent version you will find in the marketplace and is sweet, effervescent, white wine of a generally low alcohol content.

When a wine is labeled as Moscato, it is usually the Italian version. Moscato d’Asti is from the wine growing commune of Asti in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is usually slightly effervescent, not as bubbly as say Champagne. In wine there are usually exceptions to every rule and occasionally you will find a Moscato that is made in a still, late harvest style. You can usually tell the difference by the shape of the bottle. I would say that generally this is a good rule of thumb- If it is shaped like a champagne bottle than it is effervescent and if in a regular or half bottle format it is more likely to be a more viscous, still, late harvest style.

In California there are no laws regarding using the Muscat or Moscato spelling so it is a little more challenging to know exactly the style you are getting. If it says Moscato d’Asti, then it is certainly from Italy as that region has a protected status with the EU and is recognized as such in the USA.

It is important to note that Muscat is not the same thing as the American table grape Muscadine. Muscadine is from an entirely different species of grapevine native to the Americas. This is a relatively simple explanation of MuscatMoscato as within Europe there are several types of Muscat that are considered distinct from one another.