Moscato d’Asti wine
Moscato d’Asti is a fresh white and fruity moscato wine that is slightly sparkling. The taste is sweet with a modest percentage of alcohol. When Moscato d’Asti is combined with food, it is usually the dessert. The wine is produced from the best moscato grapes and comes from the famous wine region of Piemonte in Italy. The wine is considered by many to be the best moscato wine in the world.
Production of Moscato d’Asti
The grapes for Moscato d’Asti must have no traces of rot and must contain sufficient sugar and acids. They are pressed immediately after picking. Then the must is clarified. The must then ferments in 12 to 15 days at a temperature of a maximum of 8 C. As soon as the desired amount of alcohol of 5.5 percent has been reached, the fermentation is blocked by cooling the wine. The yeast cells still present are then removed by filtering. This whole process takes place in closed tanks, so that the carbon dioxide cannot escape and the wine gets a light sparkle. The sweetness in the wine has arisen in a natural way, because unfermented residual sugar remains. The amount of alcohol can differ per producer.
The Asti region
Moscato d’Asti is made in the Piedmont wine region in northwestern Italy. The wine is a “Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita”. In addition to Piemonte, this sparkling wine is also made in the smaller nearby provinces of Alessandria and Cuneo. Moscato d’Asti is a place name of a beautifully situated town in the hilly landscape of Piemonte. The rocky sandstone soil is perfect for growing the Moscato (Muscat Blanc) grapes.
Asti Spumante
Another sparkling wine is also produced in Asti. This is the Asti Spumante. The regulations surrounding Moscato d’Asti are slightly stricter. In addition, Moscato d’Asti has a low alcohol percentage (5% against 7-9%), compared to Asti Spumante. Although the character is slightly different, you also drink a delicious wine with it.
Producers
A frequently asked question is which producer makes the tastiest Moscato d’Asti wine. That question is of course not easy to answer. There are only a number of products that have been producing high-quality wines for some time. This includes the producers Prunotto, Bosio and Fratelli of the wines below.
Food and drink
Moscato d’Asti is a delicious wine to drink as an aperitif or with a dessert. Sweet wines with this character combine well with raw ham. The fruity character of course goes very well with fresh summer fruit.