Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Moscato d'Asti Docg

The Halloween week marks the beginning of a series of celebrations and what's a better wine to toast on than the amazing Moscato d'Asti Docg??



First of all, as you might have noticed, we insist on indicating if the wines we present are DOC or DOCG or just regular wines.
Because Piedmont is the largest Italian wine producing region with the highest number of DOC and DOCG wines together, here's a link that explains about how the wine making processes are regulated by the Italian law.

Moscato d'Asti is a dessert sparkling wine, happy and carefree as the occasions we drink it, the Moscato vine is typical of the Eastern side of the Mediterranean and its characteristic sweet flavor is due to the drying process of the raisins.
Starting from 1300, this aromatic wine gained more and more popularity as it found its way through the Italian peninsula thanks to Venice trade in the Mediterranean.
Back then, it was known as Greek wine or vino greco.
In 1511, this grape is registered as Muscatellum in the La Morra (famous wine village, about 1h driving from Turin) municipal register and in 1597 the duke of Mantua officially requested some moscato scions from Santo Stefano Belbo (in the heart of the Piedmont wine country, where Mika spends his vacations).


Moscato d'Asti the king of the Piedmontese sweet wines!

The origin of sweet low-alcohol wines is due to Giovan Battista Croce, the royal jeweler of Carlo Emanuele I, duke of Savoy, is the founder of the tradition of the Piedmontese sweet wines with a low alcohol content. Moscato d'Asti is definitely the king of this category!
G.B.Croce even wrote a handbook about vinification, with detailed descriptions of all its phases. Some the techniques he experimented on his own vineyards are still used today!
The spread of his book allowed the development and diffusion of the white Piedmontese wines and their success world wide.




Moscato d'Asti fact:

- a crisp freshness and the delicate flavors of peach and apricot
- it must be made with 100% moscato grapes
- is a semi- sparkling FRIZZANTE wine 
- is only 4.5-6.5% of alcohol 
- is sweet because the fermentation stops early and the yeast doesn't consume all the sugars



As it is a sweet wine, you can easily pair it with the classic Christmas panettone, pastries, cakes and tarts with hazelnuts and dried fruits. You can also enjoy it as an aperitif, with cheeses, cured meats and savory dishes. In fact, it also goes very well with hot and spicy foods!

egg handmade tajarin pasta
There's even a Moscato Grappa!
























the Langhe wine district flourless hazelnut cake


















Once you try the real Moscato d'Asti DOCG you just won't be able to sip any other moscato produced outside Piedmont.
When you savor an original Piedmontese wine, you savor our land, our fruits and our trees.
As Italians always eat while drinking to enhance the flavors, treat yourselves so come over and share it with us! 

Piedmont will surprise you and your palates :)










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