Editing Muscat (grape) (section)

== Key varieties ==
The "Muscat family" is highly populous, with more than 200 distinct members.<ref name="Wine Grapes"/> However, among these many different grapes only a handful of Muscat varieties are widely used in wine production. These include ''[[Muscat blanc à Petits Grains]]'', [[Muscat of Alexandria]], [[Muscat of Hamburg]] and ''[[Muscat Ottonel]]''.<ref name="Oxford"/>

=== ''Muscat blanc à Petits Grains'' ===
[[File:Two vdn muscat blanc.jpg|left|thumb|In France, ''Muscat blanc à Petits Grains'' is often used to produce fortified "''Vin doux Naturel''" dessert wines such as the ''Muscat de Saint-Jean de Minervois'' (left) and ''Muscat de Beaume de Venise'' (right) shown]]
''Muscat blanc à Petits Grains'' is known by many names worldwide, including ''Muscat Blanc'' (white Muscat) in [[France (wine)|France]] and the [[United States (wine)|United States]]), ''Muscat Canelli'' in the United States, ''Moscato Bianco'' (white Moscato) in [[Italy (wine)|Italy]], ''Muscat Frontignan'' in [[South Africa (wine)|South Africa]], ''Moschato'' in [[Greece (wine)|Greece]], ''Brown Muscat'' in [[Australia (wine)|Australia]], ''Muskateller'' in [[Germany (wine)|Germany]] and [[Austria (wine)|Austria]], ''Muscat de Grano Menudo'' in [[Spain (wine)|Spain]], and ''Muscat de Frontignan'' and ''Muscat Lunel'' in France. While the "''petits grains''" in the grape's name accurately describes the small, round berries of the vine, some wine experts, such as [[Oz Clarke]], believe that the term "''Muscat blanc''" is misleading, since the grapevine is notorious for its frequent [[color mutations]] siring clusters of berries in nearly every shade possible though most commonly the grape berries are a deep yellow after [[veraison]]. In some vineyards, vines of ''Muscat blanc à Petits Grains'' are known to produce clusters of berries of different colors that change every [[vintage]].<ref name="Clarke">Oz Clarke: ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'', pp. 146-153. Harcourt Books 2001 {{ISBN|0-15-100714-4}}.</ref>

The precise origins of ''Muscat blanc à Petits Grains'' are not known, though [[Greece (wine)|Greece]] and Italy can both make compelling cases due to the proliferation of clones, mutations and offspring.<ref name="Wine Grapes"/> Today, the grape is found throughout the wine-producing world, making a wide range of wine, from light, sweet [[sparkling (wine)|sparkling]] and semi-sparkling ''[[Asti (wine)|Asti]]'' and ''[[Moscato d'Asti]]'' wine in the [[Piedmont wine]] region of Italy and [[Clairette de Die]] region of France, [[fortified (wine)|fortified]] ''[[vin doux naturel]]s'' (VdN) in southern France in [[AOC (wine)|AOC]] regions such as ''[[Muscat de Beaume de Venise]]'', ''[[Muscat de Saint-Jean de Minervois]]'' and ''[[Muscat de Frontignan]]'', fortified ''[[Liqueur Muscat]]'' in the [[Rutherglen wine region]] in Australia, to dry wines in the ''[[Wachau wine]]'' of Austria and [[Südsteiermark]].<ref name="Clarke"/>

Nearly all the most notable sweet Muscats of Greece, particularly those from the island of [[Samos]] and the city of [[Patras]] on the [[Peloponnese]] are made from ''Muscat blanc à Petits Grains''. In the [[history of South African wine]], the famous dessert wine of [[Constantia (wine)|Constantia]] was made from this variety of Muscat and while today Muscat of Alexandria is more widely planted in South Africa, producers around [[Constantia, Cape Town|Constantia]] are trying to reclaim some of the region's viticultural acclaim by replanting more ''Muscat blanc à Petits Grains'' and making wines in the style of the original Constantia.<ref name="Wine Grapes"/>

=== Muscat of Alexandria ===
[[File:Muscat d'Alexandrie.JPG|right|thumb|The berries of Muscat of Alexandria clusters are larger and more oval-shaped than those of ''Muscat blanc à Petits Grains'']]
While the grape's name harkens to the city of [[Alexandria]] and suggest an ancient Egyptian origin, DNA analysis has shown that Muscat of Alexandria is the result of a natural crossing between ''Muscat blanc à Petits Grains'' and the Greek wine grape ''Axina de Tres Bias''. Though as ''Axina de Tres Bias'' has also been historically grown in Sardinia and Malta, the precise location and origins of Muscat of Alexandria cannot be determined. Compared to ''Muscat blanc à Petits Grains'', Muscat of Alexandria tends to produce large, moderately loose clusters of large oval-shaped berries that are distinctive from the much smaller, round berries of ''Muscat blanc à Petits Grains''.<ref name="Clarke"/>

Like most Muscat varieties, Muscat of Alexandria is notable for being a desirable raisin and table grape. This is due in part to the grape's high tolerance of heat and drought conditions. While it is used in wine production (most notably on the island of [[Pantelleria]] between [[Sicily]] and [[Tunisia]], where it makes a ''[[passito]]'' style [[dessert wine]] under the name of "Zibibbo"), the grape lags far behind the reputation of ''Muscat blanc à Petits Grains''. This is partly because Muscat of Alexandria is very vigorous and prone to produce high [[yields (wine)|yields]] that can be easily overcropped as well as a more assertive aroma profile due to a higher concentration of the [[monoterpene]] [[geraniol]], which produces a [[geranium]] scent, and lower concentration of [[nerol]] with 
a more fresh, sweet [[rose]] aroma.<ref name="Clarke"/>

In France, Muscat of Alexandria is most prominent as a blending component (with ''Muscat blanc à Petits Grains'') in the VdN wines of [[Muscat de Rivesaltes AOC]] in the [[Roussillon wine]] region. The grape is the primary Muscat variety in Spain, where it is known as ''Moscatel'', though the majority of the country's plantings are used for table grapes and raisins, rather than for wine production. Likewise, in [[Chile (wine)|Chile]], and [[Peru (wine)|Peru]] most of the Moscatel in both countries is used to produce the [[distilled drink]] "[[pisco]]".<ref name="Clarke"/>

In South Africa, Muscat of Alexandria is known as "''Hanepoot''" and was the fourth-most widely planted white wine grape variety in the country until the early 2000s. While some of the plantings were used for wine production, particularly for fortified wine, many plantings were used for the production of [[grape concentrate]] and raisins.<ref name="Oxford"/> In [[California (wine)|California]], there is still more plantings of Muscat of Alexandria than any other Muscat variety, with most of these grapes going into anonymous [[jug wines]] from the [[Central Valley (California)|Central Valley]].<ref name="Clarke"/> As in many other places in the world, the grape had a long history of use in the United States as a raisin variety, though in the 1920s, plantings of Muscat of Alexandria began to decline as producers turned to more popular [[seedless grape]] varieties.<ref name="Wine Grapes"/>

=== Muscat of Hamburg ===
[[File:Rudolf Goethe04.jpg|left|thumb|Muscat of Hamburg from an 1895 German viticultural text]]
Even though the vast majority of the members of the Muscat family are dark skinned grapes,<ref name="Oxford"/> most of the major varieties used in wine production are white or "pale skinned", with the one significant exception of [[Muscat of Hamburg]], which is also known as ''Black Muscat''. This dark-skinned grape is believed to have originated in the [[Victorian (era)|Victorian]] [[greenhouses]] of England, where it was first described in 1858 as being propagated by Seward Snow, gardener to the [[Earl de Grey]]. Snow described the grape as a seedling that he created from crossing the Black Hamburg grape (an old synonym of ''[[Schiava Grossa]]'') with the White Muscat of Alexandria. In 2003, DNA analysis confirmed that Muscat of Hamburg was, indeed, a crossing of Muscat of Alexandria and Schiava Grossa, which makes the grape a full sibling to the central Italian grape ''[[Malvasia del Lazio]]'' which has the same parentage.<ref name="Wine Grapes"/>

While Muscat of Hamburg is used mostly as a table grape throughout the world, there are two notable exceptions. The first is in California, where nearly all of the {{convert|102|ha|acres}} of Black Muscat in cultivation in 2009 were destined for wine production, primarily to produce dessert wines.<ref name="Wine Grapes"/> The other exception is in [[China (wine)|China]], where Muscat of Hamburg is often crossed with ''[[Vitis amurensis]]'' species that are native to the region to produce wine grapes that are better adapted to the climate of various Chinese wine regions.<ref name="Oxford"/>

=== ''Muscat Ottonel'' ===
[[File:Mathiász Jánosné csemegeszőlő.jpg|right|thumb|A bowl of table grapes that includes a mixture of ''Muscat Ottonel'' and ''Chasselas Rouge de Foncé'']]
Like Muscat of Hamburg, ''Muscat Ottonel'' is a relatively recent addition to the Muscat family, being bred in the [[Loire Valley wine]] region of France in the 1850s. The grape is a cross of the [[Swiss wine]] grape ''[[Chasselas]]'' and ''[[Muscat d'Eisenstadt]]'' (also known as ''Muscat de Saumur''). Of all of the major Muscat varieties, ''Muscat Ottonel'' has the most pale skin color, and tends to produce the most neutral wines and is also the grape variety that [[ripens (wine)|ripens]] the earliest.<ref name="Clarke"/>

While varieties such as Muscat of Alexandria tend to thrive in very warm [[Mediterranean climates (wine)|Mediterranean climates]], Muscat of Ottonel has shown an affinity for ripening in cooler [[continental climates (wine)|continental climates]], and has found a home in many Central European nations, such as [[Bulgaria (wine)|Bulgaria]], the [[Czech Republic (wine)|Czech Republic]], [[Romania (wine)|Romania]] and many former republic of the [[Soviet Union]], such as [[Russia (wine)|Russia]], [[Kazakhstan (wine)|Kazakhstan]], [[Moldova (wine)|Moldova]], [[Tajikistan (wine)|Tajikistan]], [[Turkmenistan (wine)|Turkmenistan]] and [[Ukraine (wine)|Ukraine]].<ref name="Oxford"/> It is also the primary Muscat variety grown in the French region of [[Alsace (wine)|Alsace]], where it is used to produce both dry and off-dry styles. In Austria, it is also the most widely planted Muscat variety, where it is used to produce [[late-harvest wines]] around [[Lake Neusiedl]].<ref name="Clarke"/>