Luxembourg (officially the "Grand Duchy of Luxembourg") is a landlocked country at the junction of Belgium, Germany and France. It is a small country compared to its neighbours, stretching 80 km from North to South and 50 km from west to east, covering just over 2,500 square kilometres. Only 1% of this area is devoted to wine growing.
Located in the north of Western Europe, it is one of the coolest wine regions in the world.
In the north of the country, the Ardennes hills and forests dominate the topography. Forest accounts for a third of the country's land and the north is sparsely populated.
The vast majority of Luxembourg's 620,000 inhabitants live in the southern half of the country.
Wine production in Luxembourg has been in Slight decline since the late 1990s, with annual production currently at around 80,000 hectoliters (8 million liters or 2.
1 million U. S. gallons).
Viticulture is centered in the southeastern Part of Luxembourg, where the Mosel River (known as the Moselle) forms the national border with Germany.
Muscat Ottonel has the character of a grape variety with a distant lineage. It was first obtained in 1839 and continues to be planted in nearly 2,000 hectares of vineyards around the world. It shows good vigour and promises satisfactory production, of the order of 6 kilos per vine. The bunches, which are rather loose, are quite large, bearing berries with a strong character. A pleasantly musky flavour and a lot of juice characterize the pulp, protected by a medium skin. The bluish-black skin contributes to the exceptional beauty of the vineyards at harvest time. The size of the ellipsoidal berries is another argument in favor of Muscat Ottonel, which is also known as Muscat Ottone or Muscadet Ottonel. Resin, toast, honey and wild flowers are all present in the wines made from this variety. If the foliage, which turns yellow in autumn, is one of its charms, remember to protect the fruit from grey rot and coulure.
white wines from the region of Luxembourg go well with generally quite well with dishes of rich fish (salmon, tuna etc), shellfish or mature and hard cheese such as recipes of fresh tuna with sesame seeds, armorican-style squid or crozets carbonara with beaufort cheese au gratin.
On the nose in the region of Luxembourg often reveals types of flavors of ginger, honey or earth and sometimes also flavors of spices, tree fruit or dried fruit.
