A recent development in the wine habits of younger wine-loving citizens has rankled the Wine Curmudgeon’s chain so much that he must throw his two cents in the fountain of public discourse.
Moscato d’Asti used to be a fun, simple, adaptable dessert wine from northwestern Italy. In his days as a sommelier, the Wine Curmudgeon used various Moscatos d’Asti to put fragrant exclamation points at the end of a wine dinner. Guests loved the gentle effervescence and honeylike sweetness of these wines, not to mention their low alcohol levels.
Dessert wines offer a delectable complement to a dinner’s final act. They allow diners to revel in yet another scintillating aspect of taste in a multicourse dining event. A dessert wine spaces out the dessert course and prevents guests from wolfishly devouring a dinner’s sweet finale.
Where in the name of André Tchelistcheff did kids in their 20s get the idea to raise the roof with a bottle of Moscato d’Asti!?
Dessert wines are enjoyed with dessert, not in the back of a limo or as refreshment on the dance floor and certainly not with nonsweet portions of the meal. Sweet dessert wines clash violently with things like steak, pasta, mushrooms and generally foods not considered dessert.
As they did in the Wine Curmudgeon’s day, young people listen to their music and take cues from those making the music. Somewhere along the line, musicians started saluting the virtues of moscato in their songs and “shazam” we have a new “it” wine.
It’s not the Wine Curmudgeon’s job to point out that “moscato” and “bottle” don’t rhyme. It is his job to help wine consumers -- young or old, hip or terminally uncool -- appreciate the magic of wine by making well-considered suggestions on its consumption. Moscato does not go with lobster and shrimp and ranks among his last choices for a celebratory drink.
Always the optimist, the Wine Curmudgeon sees a glimmer of hope. Some moscato-loving kids seem to understand that moscato is too sweet as a cocktail wine. The Wine Curmudgeon has been tickled to introduce these reformed moscato drinkers to off-dry rieslings as their wine of choice.
Late harvest and spätelese rieslings from the U.S. and Germany offer moscato lovers a kiss of comforting sweetness but will not drown them in a sea of sugar. With the veil of sweetness lowered a bit, newbie wine lovers can appreciate the greater wine world, full of fruit, floral and spicy flavors and aromas.
Gil Kulers is a certified wine educator and a wine consultant for Tower Beer, Wine & Spirits. You can reach him at gil.kulers@winekulers.com.
2010 The Hogue Cellars, Late Harvest, Riesling, Columbia Valley, Wash.
$12
Wonderful floral aromas of peach and apricot with a hint of tangerine. It has flavors of peach, tea and citrus fruit with a touch of white pepper. An excellent cocktail alternative to moscato.
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