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Moscato D'Asti
Moscato D’Asti has greatly enjoyed a Renaissance in recent years thanks to its introduction to popular culture. As a wine that is popular among new wine drinkers, well-versed wine enthusiasts have also rediscovered their love for it as an aperitif and dessert wine. Grown in the tiny hilltop town of Asti on Montferret in Northwest Piedmont, Italy, Moscato D’asti is made by small producers in small batches. Moscato is named such because of its earthy musk aroma. The ancient Romans called it the apiana. In the Medieval ages, its diffusion was great and the first certain documents that attest to its presence in Piedmont date as far back as the 1300s. 

Piedmont winemakers traditionally make this low alcohol wine with Muscat à Petits Grains (also known as Muscato Bianco) that is considered the greatest of the Muscat family of grapes. This petite berry varietal ripens early and produces a wide range of wine styles: light and dry, slightly sweet and sparkling or a rich, honey-like dessert wine. This is a wonderful wine that should to be drunk young and fresh.

History and Origins
Cultivated for hundreds, if not thousands, of years in the Piedmont DOCG in Italy, Muscato Bianco is considered of the oldest grapes grown in that area. Although Moscato has been cultivated and made in the area, modern production of Moscato D’asti as it is known now began in the 1870s. Made in the frizzante style, Moscato D’asti was the wine that winemakers made for themselves. This low-alcohol wine could be drunk at noontime meals and would not slow down the winemaker or his workers. After the workday was done, the Piemontese tradition of long, multicourse evening meals gave Moscato D’asti the purpose of a digestif that cleaned the palate and stimulated the palate for dessert.

Winemaking
The cooler region in which Moscato Bianco is grown and produced has the perfect blend of limestone and sandstone soils that give the provide hydration and flavors to the grapes. The grapes are harvested when the brix is optimal and then crushed. The must is chilled almost to the point of freezing to keep the fermentation process at a halt until the time is right. By law, Moscato D’asti can only be 5.5% abv so the fermentation process is halted with a lot of the natural sugars still left in the wine. Unlike Champagne, there is no secondary fermentation allowed in the bottle, which results in softer, more delicate bubbles than Champagne. Right before bottling, the Moscato D’asti goes through a filtration process that leaves the wine pure with a lovely translucent golden color. Moscato is named such because of its earthy musk aroma. The ancient Romans called it the apiana. In the Medieval ages, its diffusion was great and the first certain documents that attest to its presence in Piedmont date as far back as the 1300s.

Piedmont winemakers traditionally make this low alcohol wine with Muscat à Petits Grains (also known as Muscato Bianco) that is considered the greatest of the Muscat family of grapes. This petite berry varietal ripens early and produces a wide range of wine styles: light and dry, slightly sweet and sparkling or a rich, honey-like dessert wine. This is a wonderful wine that should to be drunk young and fresh.

Flavor Profile and Food Pairings
It may be known for its sweetness, but Moscato D’asti’s aromas should not be ignored. In the glass you will find ample and intense heady scents of overripe fruit, honeysuckle, sweet melon and orange blossom. The slightly floral scents of the orange blossoms should be savored before taking a sip. On the palate, Moscato D’asti gives off immediate flavors mandarin orange and vanilla with subtle accents of lychee, apricot, honey, pear and stone fruits such as peach. Unlike most sweet wines, Moscato D’asti’s frizzante style has an acidic backbone that balances out the wine and helps it avoid being cloyingly sweet. This is not a wine that pairs well with meals, but that is not to say it should be avoided when having your next dinner party. Moscato D’asti makes the perfect aperatif to great guests at the door with but to incorporate it into the meal, then pair Moscato D’asti with a cheese course, antipasto, charcuterie or with dessert.

Recommended Cheeses: Mozzarella di Bufala, soft goat cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano, triple cream Brie

Desserts: Any apple dessert, fresh berries, meringue pies, cheesecake

Moscato D’asti also will be a good substitute for Champagne for Brunch meals.

In Popular Culture
Since 2011, Moscato D’asti sales have risen 73% and still rises around 10-15% per year in the US by consumers under the age of 45. Such a meteoric rise can be attributed to two reasons: the affordability of the wine (most range from $10-20) and the adoption of Moscato D’asti as the drink of choice by hip-hop culture since Champagne’s fall from grace.

Since the managing director of Champagne house Louis Roederer’s fatal mistake of stating “we forbid people from buying it” when he was asked if the thought hip-hop’s “bling culture” hurt the Cristal brand, Champagne’s popularity as the drink of choice for hip-hop plummeted. Jay-Z began a boycott against the brand and the Moscato D’asti craze took over.

Young, hip Black, Latino, and Asian consumers are staying loyal to Moscato D’asti despite some push back from wine enthusiasts, who never fail to mention the failure in food pairings mention in the lyrics. Still, some of hip-hops biggest stars have put their love of the wine in their music:


 * Lil’ Kim Lighters Up
 * Teairra Mari ft. Kanye West & Jay-Z Make Her Feel Good
 * Drake Do It Now
 * Waka Flocka Flame No Hands
 * Ab-Soul ft. Kendrick Lamar Moscato
 * Roscoe Dash Moscato
 * DJ Drama Oh My
 * Bigg Robb Moscato Love

External Link
www.WinePassItaly.com