Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains
Also known as Moscato Bianco, Muscat de Frontignan, Moscatel de Grano Menudo
Probably Eastern Mediterranean, Greece
One of the oldest and most widely mutated wine grapes, the source of the sweet, grapey Moscato d'Asti and of the fortified Muscats of the south of France and Australia.
Sensory profile
Characteristics
Flavor & aroma
At a glance
Production facts
Prevalence
Widely planted
Climate
Moderate climate
Ripening
Early season
Wine styles
Still, Sparkling, Dessert, Fortified
Where it's grown
Geography
Shaded areas are the state, province or département(s) containing each region, so they run wider than the appellations themselves.
Italy
Piedmont (Asti)
Moscato d'Asti and Asti: sweet, lightly sparkling and low in alcohol.
France
France
Australia
Rutherglen (Victoria)
Aged, fortified Muscat, luscious and dark from a red-skinned version of the grape.
Background
Origin & History
The Muscat family is among the oldest cultivated grape groups, and Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, with its small berries, is generally thought to be its founder and to come from the eastern Mediterranean. It mutates readily into white, pink and dark-skinned forms, and many other Muscats descend from it.
It is sweet and grapey in Asti, where the lightly sparkling, low-alcohol Moscato d'Asti is made, dry and floral in Alsace, and fortified in Beaumes-de-Venise and, as Rutherglen Muscat, in Victoria. It is a parent of Muscat of Alexandria, which it produced with Axina de Tres Bias.
Lineage
Family tree
Parentage not recorded — Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains is an old variety of unknown origin. Click a related grape to explore its own lineage.