Muscat Blanc

Muscat Blanc is a highly aromatic white grape grown across France, Italy, Greece and beyond, producing wines from completely dry to lusciously sweet. Expect peach, apricot and citrus with orange blossom, honeysuckle and fresh grape flavours. It’s brilliant with spicy Asian food, fruit desserts, seafood, soft cheese and fresh fruit.

Taste:

Floral, fruity and absolutely not interested in being subtle.

Muscat Blanc is one of those rare grapes that can actually taste distinctly of fresh grapes, alongside peach, apricot, orange, lemon and sometimes tropical fruit. Expect plenty of floral aromas too, particularly orange blossom, honeysuckle and rose.

The style can vary enormously. Dry Muscat is fresh, aromatic and usually light to medium-bodied, while sweeter versions can be rich, honeyed and intensely fruity. You’ll also find sparkling and fortified expressions.

That means checking the label is particularly useful here. "Muscat" tells you the grape family. It doesn't necessarily tell you what kind of night you're about to have.

Food Pairings:

With Muscat Blanc, the best pairing depends on how sweet the bottle is.

Dry styles work beautifully with prawns, crab, grilled fish, seafood salads and dishes featuring citrus or fresh herbs. They're also great with goat's cheese and lighter salads.

Off-dry Muscat is brilliant with aromatic and spicy Asian food. Try Thai green curry, Thai red curry, chicken curry, spicy noodles, Vietnamese food or dishes featuring chilli, ginger and lemongrass.

Sweet Muscat comes into its own with dessert. Pair it with peach tart, apricot tart, fruit salad, pavlova, cheesecake, lemon tart or tropical fruit desserts.

Fresh fruit such as peaches, apricots, strawberries and melon can work beautifully too.

For cheese, try blue cheese with sweeter styles or soft, creamy cheeses with drier examples.

Similar Wines:

If you enjoy Muscat Blanc, Moscato is an obvious next stop – Moscato is simply the Italian name you'll commonly see for wines from the Muscat family.

Moscato d'Asti takes things in a sweet, gently sparkling direction, while Gewürztraminer offers similarly intense floral and exotic-fruit aromas.

Riesling is another great choice if you enjoy aromatic whites that can move effortlessly between dry and sweet styles.

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More About Muscat Blanc:

Muscat isn't actually one single grape but a large and ancient family of related varieties grown throughout the wine world.

Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains is one of its oldest and most highly regarded members. You'll find it under various names depending on where you are, including Moscato Bianco in Italy and Muscat Blanc in France.

It's responsible for an extraordinary range of wines, from dry aromatic whites to sweet fortified wines and sparkling styles such as Moscato d'Asti and Asti.

Few grapes smell quite so obviously like grapes themselves, thanks to naturally high levels of aromatic compounds called terpenes.

Yes, "tastes like grapes" is finally a legitimate wine tasting note.

About time.