Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Moscatel Blanco from the Finca Maggio was produced with grapes from 50+-year-old pergola vines that fermented destemmed but with the skins, without temperature control in concrete egg with indigenous yeasts and matured in egg for seven months. 2019 was also a dry year that saw an early harvest, and the wine is lower in alcohol (at 12.06%) and has mellow acidity. It smells of golden raisins, not really Moscatel; the primary aromas are turned into more herbs and orange peel rather than blossom. The palate is dry and tasty, with pungent flavors and a saline touch in the finish. This is evolving beautifully. 3,000 bottles were filled in October 2019.
While Muscat comes in a wide range of styles from dry to sweet, still to sparkling and even fortified, it's safe to say it is always alluringly aromatic and delightful. The two most important versions are the noble, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, making wines of considerable quality and Muscat of Alexandria, thought to be a progeny of the former. Somm Secret—Pliny the Elder wrote in the 13th century of a sweet, perfumed grape variety so attractive to bees that he referred to it as uva apiana, or “grape of the bees.” Most likely, he was describing Muscat.
This very hot and arid region produces fine red wines from Bonarda, Syrah and Malbec and solid, fruity white wines from Pinot grigio, Viognier and Chardonnay.