Characteristics and Winemaking

The wines made from these grapes are meant to be consumed young and fresh. They have little to no ageing potential due to their low acidity. The one exception here is a fortified Muscat called Rutherglen Muscat. Coming from Rutherglen town of Australia’s Victoria region, this wine is made from Muscat grape varietals and can be aged for a minimum of five years. 

Some producers also use the solera system (commonly used for Sherry) to age their wine. This is a fractional blending system, in which they remove the wine from their oldest barrel, known as the solera, add wine from the second oldest barrel, called the first criadera, to whatever remains in the oldest barrel. The remaining wine in the second cidera then receives wine from the third oldest barrel- second criadera and so on. So while criaderas continue to accumulate over the years, the bottom solera vat is consistently aged at the end of every ageing cycle.

Rutherglen Muscat has intense flavours of raisin, sultana, other dried and candied fruit coupled with notes of caramel,dark chocolate and cinnamon. As the wine ages, it accumulates tertiary notes of nuts like walnut, hazelnut and macadamia as well as toffee and brown sugar.

Muscat needs a long growing season due to its tendency to bud early and ripen relatively late, especially in cooler climates. The grape is prone to mildew diseases and thus needs thorough canopy management practices.

From the Alto Adige region in Italy and Alsace in France and Germany, you get a drier and simpler style of Muscat. These still wines are straightforward and fruity wines, giving aromas and flavours of peaches, grapes and spices.