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Muscat Blanc

The white grape variety probably originates from Italy or Greece, or more broadly speaking "from the Mediterranean region". It is the noblest, but not the most common variety in the large group of Muscat (see general information there). The name Muscat Blanc is most commonly used worldwide, the full name after the berry shape is Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains Ronds (Petits Grains Ronds = small round berries).

Muscat Blanc - Traube Muscat Blanc, Blatt, Trauben Muscat Gris/Rouge und Muscat Noir

Synonyms

Around 300 synonyms testify to the vine's great age and worldwide distribution. Many of the names are variations or mutations with a wide variety of berry colours, including white (most common), yellow, grey, green, pink, red, brown, purple, blue and black. The most important, grouped alphabetically by country, are Brown Muscat, Frontignac (Australia); Tamyanka (Bulgaria); Muskateller, Gelber Muskateller, Grauer Muskateller, Roter Muskateller, Schwarzer Muskateller, Weihrauchtraube, Weißer Muskateller, Weyrer (Germany, Austria); Muscat Frontignan (Chile); White Frontignan (England); Muscat d'Alsace, Muscat de Die, Muscat de Lunel, Muscat de Narbonne, Muscat Frontignan (France); Moschato, Moschato Aspro, Moschato Kerkyras, Moschato Lefko, Moschato Mazas, Moschato Samou, Moschato Spinas, Moschato Trani, Moschoudi, Moschoudi Proïmo, Muscat Sámos, Muskuti (Greece); Muscat Canelli (Israel); Apiana, Generosa, Moscatella Generosa, Moscatello Bianco, Moscatello di Saracena, Moscatello di Taggia, Moscatellone, Moscato Bianco, Moscato di Chambave, Moscato d'Asti, Moscato dei Colli Euganei, Moscato di Canelli, Moscato di Momiano, Moscato di Montalcino, Moscato di Noto, Moscato di Tempio, Moscato di Trani, Moscato Reale, Moscodellone (Italy); Istarski Muškat, Momjanski Muškat, Muškat Istarski, Muškat Momjanski (Croatia); Temjanika (North Macedonia); Moscatel Branco, Moscatel do Douro, Moscatel Galego Branco (Portugal); Tămâioasă Alba, Tămâioasă Alba de Drăgășani, Tămâioasă de Drăgășani, Tămâioasă de Moldova, Tămâioasă de Muntenia, Tămâioasă Românească(Romania); Muscat Belii, Muscat Belyi, Tamyanka (Russia); Muscat du Valais (Switzerland); Tamjanika, Tamyanka (Serbia); Muškát Žltý(Slovakia); Rumeni Muskat (Slovenia); Moscatel Castellano, Moscatel Commun, Moscatel de Grano Menudo, Moscatel de Grano Pequeno, Moscatel Encarnado, Moscatel Fino, Moscatel Morisco (Spain); Frontignac, Muscadel, Muskadel, Muscat Frontignan (South Africa); Muškát Žlutý (Czech Republic); Beyaz Misket, Bornova Misketi, Myskett (Turkey); Bela Dinka, Beli Muskat, Franczier Veros Muscatel, Muscat Lunel, Piros Muskotály, Sárga Muskotály (Hungary); Muskadel White, Muscat Blanc, Muscat Canelli, Muscat Frontignan (USA).

Descendants

The parentage of the vine is unknown; the parent varieties are probably already extinct. Despite morphological similarities or seemingly suggestive synonyms, it should not be confused with the varieties Goldmuskateller (Moscato Giallo), Muscadelle or Torrontés Riojano. The variety was often the parent of natural crosses, which is why it is considered a leading variety, as well as a favourite crossing partner for new varieties:

There may also be genetic links with the three Greek varieties Malagousia, Moschomavro and Volitsa Mavri, which incidentally have a muscat tone. Among other things, this justifies the probability of a Greek origin. Worldwide, there are countless colour mutations in all conceivable berry colours from white to black with the name components Blanc, Gris, Rosa, Rouge, Roxo, Brown, Violet and Noir in many national languages.

Characteristics

The medium to late ripening vine is susceptible to powdery mildew and botrytis, as well as infestation by hymenoptera (bees and wasps) and mites. It also tends to coulure with the consequence of certain yield insecurity. The variety has smaller berries than all other muscatel varieties. It produces white wines with a pronounced muscat flavour and spicy aromas and is used for both dry and sweet wines and sparkling wines. Due to the sugar-rich berries, it is particularly suitable for sweet wines; famous examples include Banyuls, Maury, Muscat de Frontignan, Rivesaltes (France); Constantia (South Africa); Malaga, Sherry (Spain); Samos (Greece) and Tokay (Hungary).

Cultivation quantities

The most common variety is Muscat Blanc (with white or yellow berries; also known as Gelber Muskateller in German-speaking countries). The largest area under cultivation is in Italy with 13,334 hectares. A large proportion of this grows in the Asti/Moscatod'Asti area in Piedmont, where the variety occupies around a fifth of the vineyard area. In France, 7,333 hectares have been designated, the largest quantities of which are in the dual region of Languedoc-Roussillon with around 5,500 hectares. Here it is authorised in many sweet vin doux naturel in the four wines Muscat de Frontignan Muscat de Lunel, Muscat de Mireval and Muscat de Saint-Jean de Minervois (all Languedoc), or as a component such as Muscat de Rivesaltes (Roussillon). In Alsace, it is one of the authorised varieties for the 51 Alsace Grands Crus under the name Muscat d'Alsace.

There are other areas under cultivation in Germany (423 ha), Greece (1,568 ha), Croatia, Luxembourg (1 ha), Moldova (50 ha), North Macedonia (400 ha), Austria (864 ha), Portugal (1.031 ha), Romania (1,579 ha), Russia (483 ha), Switzerland (36 ha), Serbia (31 ha), Slovakia, Slovenia (586 ha), Spain (1,350 ha), Turkey (129 ha), Ukraine (338 ha) and Hungary (762 ha).

Overseas, the variety is cultivated in Argentina (94 ha), Australia (857 ha), Brazil (32 ha), Chile (1 ha), Mexico (246 ha), Myanmar (7 ha), New Zealand (1 ha), Peru (361 ha), South Africa (839 ha) and Uruguay (10 ha), as well as in the USA, particularly in the two states of California and Washington (1,218 ha). The variety occupied a total of 33,739 hectares of vineyards in 2016, and the trend is rising. This puts the variety in 26th place in the global grape variety ranking.

In the Kym Anderson statistics, stocks were listed separately under the names "Muscat Blanc (G)" with pink berries and "Muscat Blanc (R)" with reddish berries. This includes the Muscat Gris and Muscat Rouge varieties (there were no values for Muscat Noir). In the VIVC catalogue, however, these two are listed as one variety.

Muscat Gris: Grown in Argentina (6,526 ha) and Chile (1,732 ha). This results in a total of 8,258 hectares of vineyards. In 2010, however, these were still labelled under the name Moscatel Rosado were labelled. However, it is possible that it is indeed a separate variety. This puts the variety in 85th place in the global grape variety ranking.

Muscat RougeIs cultivated in Australia (240 ha), Germany (5 ha), France (419 ha), Kazakhstan (255 ha), Portugal (115 ha) and South Africa (404 h). This results in a total of 1,438 hectares of vineyards.

Source: Wine Grapes / J. Robinson, J. Harding, J. Vouillamoz / Penguin Books Ltd. 2012
Images: Ursula Brühl, Doris Schneider, Julius Kühn Institute (JKI)

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