Dry Muscatel

Nothing specific, but I don't understand why you are having problems. Dry Muscats are not that rare. Southern France and Alsace make them for example.

Was your problem the spelling perhaps? Muscatel is not incorrect, but is not a very common variant spelling/name for Muscat. There's a few different types of Muscat and many variants on their names. I imagine with a name that anything that looks vaguely like Muscat would meet your requirements - except Muscadet, which is totally different, and maybe Muscadelle (but I doubt you'd get a such a varietal anyway).

Or Vin de Pays. Not common perhaps, but hardly rare. A quick internet search threw up a VdP d'Oc pretty quickly - I checked before I posted.

Or VdP yes.

This might be one of those things that are easier to find on the export market. Never seen one here.

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

Must admit, I cannot remember having seen one on the shelves of a wine merchant in the UK, not that I have particularly been looking. OTOH you do not see many Alsace Muscats either - I do keep more of an eye out for Alsace wines, and I can only recall having seen one in the last few years.

"Muscat Sec, Domaine Coudoulet, Vin de Pays d'Oc" is the one that has comes up in searches on a couple of the larger UK merchants.

The Austrians make some dry wines from Gelber Muskateller, which is in the family of the Muscat grape.

We have one from Tschermonegg which we call "off-dry", but at 3.4 g/l residual sugar, it's pretty much dry. I find it very fresh and with a hint of spice, and love serving it chilled as an aperitif wine. The same winemaker also uses Muskateller in blends to make quite dry white wines.

Emily

Muscat is really a family name for many varieties of grapes, and there can be debate about just which varieties should be called Muscat. The common theme is that the Muscat wines tend to be very aromatic and perfumed. Sweet examples are far more common than dry ones.

The Muskateller grape, now quite rare, sometimes is grown in Germany in the Pfalz, Baden, and Wurttemberg, where dry examples can be found. I have never seen German Muskateller wine of any type in the US, although I saw it listed on a restaurant wine list from the late 1880's. Austria also has a rare Muskateller grape sometimes made into dry wines. I do not know if the Austrian and German varieties are exactly the same.

Italy has very many types of sweet muscat wines. The Moscato Giallo in the Alto Adige is made into a dry wine. Some would not include this grape in the muscat family.

Dry Muscat Ottonel wines are made in Moldavia.

Muscat grapes are grown in nearly every country that can grow grapes. It is likely that several regional examples of dry muscat wines could be found that have never been exported, or even distributed in the country where they were made.

Reply to snipped-for-privacy@cwdjr.net .

One trocken Muskateller that usually makes it to the states is the Muller-Catoir Haarder Burgergarten Kabinett. The 2001 is probably the greatest dry Muscat I've ever had, edging various vintages of the Zind-Humbrecht Goldert.

As far as Austria, besides the Tschermonegg Emily mentions, another one available in States is the Heidi Schrock.

I also seem to recall seeing a Classic Gelber Muskateller from Polz (also from the Styrian region as Tschermonegg is) here in the US. I have not tasted it, but Polz is a fine Austrian winery so I'm sure it would be worth a try.

--------------------------- E.

Just came back from a trip to Anderson Valley. Tried a muscat blanc from Navarro. It's a dry and crisp example with a intensly floral/aromatic nose. I really like it. You might want to give it a try.

Man-Ho Chu

"Man-Ho Chu" in news: snipped-for-privacy@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... | Just came back from a trip to Anderson Valley. | Tried a muscat blanc from Navarro. ...

Thanks for the report. The Anderson Valley is indeed a little gem in California and has surfaced here on occasion.

Did you see any other notable wines or wineries when you were there?

-- Max

Unless you're really looking for Muscadet which can be very dry --- I'm looking at 2003 Domaine de la Quilla as I type (white Loire wine). Seems to be widely available.

Mike P

A couple of stunners from Handley:

2002 Anderson Valley pinot noir -- A fruit forward pinot but also interestingly complex. Loads of berries in the nose with good varietal characteristics. 2004 Anderson Valley gewurztraminer -- Explosive lychee nose. If you prefer your gewurz big and very full bodied, this is for you (14.2% ABV). Navarro makes my prima gewurz for a long time but this year I'm giving my thumbs up to Handley. Cheers!

Man-Ho Chu