Wines made from White muscat grapes of Pays d'Oc
Discover the best wines made with White muscat as a single variety or as a blend of Pays d'Oc.
White muscat is a white grape variety of Greek origin. Present in several Mediterranean vineyards, it has several synonyms such as muscat de Die, muscat blanc and frontignac. In France, it occupies a little less than 7,000 ha out of a total of 45,000 ha worldwide. Its young shoots are downy. Its youngest leaves are shiny, bronzed and scabrous. The berries and bunches of this variety are all medium-sized. The flesh of the berries is juicy, sweet and firm. Muscat à petits grains has a second ripening period and buds early in the year. It is moderately vigorous and must be pruned short. It likes poor, stony slopes. This variety is often exposed to spring frosts. It fears mildew, wasps, grape worms, court-noué, grey rot and powdery mildew. Muscat à petits grains is used to make rosé wines and dry white wines. Orange, brown sugar, barley sugar and raisins are the known aromas of these wines.
Pays d'Oc is the PGI for red, white and rosé wines that are produced over a wide area of the southern coast of France. The PGI catchment area corresponds roughly to the Languedoc-roussillon">Languedoc-Roussillon wine region, one of the largest wine regions in France. The area covers all wines that are not produced under the strict laws that govern AOC-level appellations in the regions: among them, Corbières, Minervois and the Languedoc appellation itself. The Pays d'Oc PGI is arguably the most important in France, producing the majority of the country's PGI wines.
When I have some time to myself in the southern Rhône, my favourite place to relax is the peaceful village of Gigondas. I had even more reason to visit this June, as the growers’ syndicate was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the appellation. Over a meal at Domaine du Clos des Tourelles, we had the opportunity to taste wines spanning five decades, including a remarkable 1971 that was still very much alive and kicking. Gigondas has long been recognised as an exceptional site for winemaking, bu ...
The Wildfire Resilience Summit has been organised by New York-based insurance company Galway Holdings and will take place from 9-10th March at The Estate Yountville in the heart of Napa Valley’s wine country. It will bring prominent insurance companies and highly regarded wineries together in a series of sessions which will look at the devastating effects of recent wildfires on the businesses and local communities in Napa County. Linda Reiff, president and CEO of the non-profit Napa Valley Vintn ...
Total sales at last weekend’s Hospices de Nuits-St-Georges 2023 charity auction hit €3.6m (£3.2m), up by 45% on last year’s event, said organisers. They were partly helped by a Burgundy 2022 vintage that has been described as both generous in quantity and promising in quality. ‘More generous than in previous years, the 2022 harvest enabled 160 barrels to be put up for auction across 19 different cuvées,’ said organisers of the auction, which was held at Château du Clos de Vougeot and overs ...