It's fun! It's flirty! It's sweet yet balanced with acidity! It's delicious! It's Moscato d'Asti. I had the the pleasure to recently spend a week in Asti in Piemonte, Italy, visiting wineries and drinking lots and lots of Moscato d'Asti. This light and refreshing wine will transport you to a spring picnic in the park. But Moscato d'Asti, a wine made from passion, also has a serious side and I wrote about this wonderful wine in the Napa Valley Register which I am sharing here.
Rainy, cold weather getting you down? Longing for spring to come? Open up a bottle of Moscato d’Asti and transport yourself to a picnic in the spring. No matter the time of the year, no matter the temperature outside, Moscato d’Asti is fresh and is like spring in a glass.
Now, your first thought might be, “but Moscato d’Asti is a sweet wine.” It is OK to admit you like a little sweetness in your wine. When a little residual sugar is balanced by bright acidity, there is nothing not to like. And Moscato d’Asti is just that. It is fun, fruity, light and refreshing but it is also a serious wine with a lot of care is put into making it.
The first written records of the Moscato Bianco grape in Piemonte, Italy were in the 1300s. Today there are 10,000 hectares planted, of which 1,400 hectares are planted on hills, across 52 municipalities in the provinces of Alessandria, Asti and Cuneo in Piemonte.
Pinot Noir is a grape with more than 1000 registered clones, according to Jancis Robinson's Wine Grapes. There are also various Pinot mutations, such as Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and...