If you had to pick the most popular style of fun, fizzy wine, you'd probably go for Prosecco, right? Well, you'd be wrong. Despite the disapproval of wine snobs everywhere, it's another Italian wine that rules the roost.
Today is International Moscato Day, an occasion founded by Gallo to celebrate sweetish, semi-fizzy bottles of fun. To mark the occasion we investigated the popularity of this wine category in the Wine-Searcher universe. We were pretty surprised by the results, once we had sorted through the various other wine styles and the various grape varieties that associate themselves with the Muscat grape – or rather the Muscat family of grapes.
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Firstly we looked at the number of keyword searches for Moscato and were rather shocked to see that the year-to-date figure of 273,261 was far in advance of that for Prosecco, which has only reached 128,615 keyword searches in the same period. Even if these figures seem small against the 1.4 million searches for Pinot Noir, they were surprisingly high for products that do not constitute obvious mainstays for wine collectors and other enthusiasts. Even as white wines they are rarely regarded as anything other than makeweight wines enjoyed by the masses.
It should be stated that our statistics for Moscato wine searches also include searches for Muscat and Moscatel, and encompasses anything from dry white wines through to sticky dessert wines. But the list of most searched-for Muscats (of all styles) is dominated by the frizzante, sweetish style, even if the Mamamango Mango-Muscat Liquor tops all Muscat listings and #4 is – by way of complete contrast – Donnafugata's Passito di Pantelleria. Alsatian wines are nowhere to be seen, and sweet Sherry and Australian liqueur Muscats are conspicuous absentees as well.
Moscato d'Asti wines account for 11 of the top 25 most searched-for Muscat wines in the year to date; in 2017 there have been 85,636 searches including the combination of keywords Moscato and Asti. This figure, notably, represents 67 percent of the total number of searches for Prosecco, when we had considered the Moscato wine to be much more of a niche product. It certainly seems that informal drinking's champion product is not the one we thought.
Other Italian Moscatos from outside Asti but in the same style are important in this category, including several US-focused brands made in Italy. Occupying the #2 spot in the Top 25 of all Muscats is Bartenura Moscato, the famous kosher wine in the blue glass bottle, which has gained an especially high profile with urban African-American consumers. Another brand created for the States, Seven Daughters, comes in at #5 in most searched-for Muscat wines. Veneto-based giant Zonin supplies two Muscat wines in the top 25 including the Castello del Poggio – which incidentally is the most searched-for wine of any style from the region of Lombardy.
Add to this some of the key New World-produced Moscato brands, such as Canyon Road (US), Innocent Bystander, Banrock Station (Australia) and some from South Africa, and we have more indications that Wine-Searcher users aren't all about acidity, tannin and oak. What seems to be the most searched-for New World Moscato at the moment is the MYX Fusions release by the spectacularly costumed pocket rocket of hip-hop, Nicky Minaj. In fact, this particular "wine" is a mix of Moscato and fruit juices.
The caveat to this portrayal of Moscato Frizzante as a "fun" wine is the identity of some of the producers who make these wines. In the list below we focus on the top 10 Moscato wines – note the presence of Piedmontese producers Vietti, La Spinetti and Michele Chiarlo, all producers of serious and expensive red Nebbiolo wines (Saracco, meanwhile, is a Moscato d'Asti specialist). Collectively the 10 wines below can provide house pours for the sweet-toothed, and fresh dessert wines or toothsome aperitifs for aficionados.
Top 10 Most Searched-for Moscatos (year to date):
1. Bartenura Moscato, Italy
The popular Kosher brand aimed at the US Market with a large international range. The Moscato is bottled in distinctive blue glass and celebrity endorsements from R'n'B artists have pushed it to the top of this particular chart.
2. Paolo Saracco Moscato d'Asti DOCG, Piedmont, Italy
From a Moscato d'Asti specialist in Castiglione Tinella near Barbaresco, regarded as the best zone in the appellation. As with all wines from this DOCG, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains is the variant used.
3. Seven Daughters Moscato, Italy
The Seven Daughters brand encompasses a range of value wines sourced from California and the wider world. At the time of writing, while the bottled Moscato is generically sourced from Italy, the canned version is a Veneto IGT.
4. Vietti Cascinetta, Moscato d'Asti DOCG, Italy
The first of the producers better known for Nebbiolo reds. Made from 40-year-old estate vines in Moscato hotspot Castiglione Tinella.
5. Zonin Primo Amore Moscato Puglia IGT, Italy
In essentially the same style as Moscato d'Asti, but with fruit sourced from the heel of Italy and a touch stronger at 7 percent alcohol. From a large Italian producer with a strong presence in the US.
6. La Spinetta Bricco Quaglia, Moscati d'Asti DOCG, Italy
La Spinetta are best known for their single vineyard Barbaresco and Barolo wines, but the Moscato d'Asti is still the fourth most searched-for wine in a portfolio of several dozen wines. Sourced from a single 20-hectare (100-acre) vineyard, annual production exceeds 100,000 bottles.
7. Michele Chiarlo Nivole, Moscato d'Asti DOCG, Italy
Another well-known Piedmont company known for its red wines, but this is their most searched-for on Wine-Searcher. Named for the Piedmont word for clouds. Fruit is grown on the hills surrounding Canelli – Muscat Canelli is a widely used synonym for Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains.
8. Castello del Poggio Moscato Provincia di Pavia IGT, Lombardy, Italy
Another brand owned by Zonin. This time the grapes come from Pavia in Lombardy, though a Moscato d'Asti is also made under the same brand.
9. Elio Perrone Sourgal, Moscato d'Asti DOCG, Italy
Another Moscato d'Asti specialist, also based in Castiglione Tinella. Unlike Saracco it is owned and run by a former motocross champion. Sourgal is a single-vineyard wine sourced from a two-hectare plot on a west-facing slope.
10. Innocent Bystander Moscato, Victoria, Australia
This is the top-ranked pink Moscato in terms of global searches. While Moscato d'Asti is made from Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, this is a combination if Muscat Gordo (Brown Muscat) and Muscat of Hamburg (Black Muscat) grown around Swan Hill on the Murray River.
