2020 Moscato

California

Tasting Notes

Our first Moscato has enticing aromas of honeysuckle, lemon curd, toasted nuts and brioche followed by sweet flavors of apricot, fresh orange, and a hint of tropical fruit. As this wine aerates it evolves with additional apple tart and custard aromas. It might not last long in your glass though, because it’s delicious! It is lightly sweet with refreshingly crisp acidity.

Winemaking Notes

We produced this wine in the classic méthode champenoise used for traditional champagne production, where the wine undergoes additional fermentation in bottle to make it sparkle. This method is more labor intensive and time consuming than other methods but produces better bubbles.

First, we made the base wine for this Moscato by fermenting the grape juice dry (no more sugar) then we added in fresh, unfermented (sweet) grape juice we had held back, to make the wine naturally sweet. We then added that to bottle and let it ferment again in the bottle to create the bubbles in this wine. The result is a deliciously sweet and refreshing wine that retains a lot of fresh flavors. 

Aging

This wine was held cold in stainless steel tank until bottling, with no oak used. Oak and aging would have interfered with the fresh fruit flavors of this wine.

Food Pairing

Moscato is delicious on its own but also pairs perfectly with brunch! Think fresh fruit and yogurt parfait. Fruity desserts like strawberry shortcake, fresh fruit tarts, or fruit-topped cheesecakes are also great pairings. Lightly sweet pairings will tend to work best. However, Moscato is also known to pair with light appetizers such as honeydew wrapped prosciutto, spicy foods, and fresh cheeses!