If you’ve ever been to a dinner party, or just enjoyed a glass of wine when eating your evening meal, you’ll know that some wines just don’t suit desserts and that’s why today I’m talking about Moscato wine and how it makes the perfect accompaniment to sweet foods.
That’s because Moscato is a style of wine made from muscat grapes and is considered a sweeter wine. It generally has lower acidity, with a slight sweetness thanks to higher levels of residual sugar which means it makes a perfect pairing with desserts, hence it being given the title of a dessert wine.
The Muscat grape is one that provides a white wine, which is rich, very soft and light with floral and fruity aromas. Independent Wine have sent me a bottle of Siddùra Nùali Passito 2016 to give it a try and show how you can enjoy a bottle of Moscato wine, and how to pair it to bring out the right flavours of the bottle, and the food you’re eating.
“Moscato di Sardegna is a Sardinian wine DOC made in the traditional Italian passito method. This technique is used to create sweet wines with incredibly intense flavours. Grapes are harvested early, when they are still full of fresh acid, and dried in the cellar. As the water evaporates, the sugar and flavours in the grapes become more concentrated. The fermentation process begins in winter. All of the sweetness in this wine is natural: there is so much sugar in the dried grapes that the yeast can’t convert it all into alcohol.”
The wine is so beautiful, that is was awarded the very prestigious Decanter Gold Medal in 2019 as well as Berliner Wein Trophy 2019: Gold, Mundus Vini Spring Tasting 2019: Gold and Concours International De Lyon 2019: Gold.
This wine pairs perfectly with fruity desserts, I think, because of its intense flavours of mangos, pineapples, acacia honey, apricots, peaches, cooked pears and caramel. So I thought I’d list 3 fruity desserts which I personally think would match with this gorgeous lengthy bottle.
Carrot and Walnut Cake
Whatever the occasion, this carrot cake recipe is sure to impress and when mixed with walnuts, it brings a whole new flavour to the plate. With warming cinnamon, crunchy walnuts and velvety cream cheese frosting, it’s a real winner. And even though it’s not technically a fruit dessert, I think it works because of the mild and sweet flavours of the carrots, and the hit of warm cinnamon which cuts through the wine.
Apple Crumble and Custard
Apple desserts will always be a winner when served with a glass of Mostcato, and so it definitely had to be on my list. The emphasis on tartness here, the wine helps to build up the acidic notes in the fruit, but a pairing with custard gives the sweetness of vanilla which works immensely well.
Lemon Meringue
It’s a given that a tart flavour such as lemon will work well with Moscato, but this dessert is also ideal due to the creamy meringue topping and crunchy base. Moscato seems to flavour even better when paired with a dessert that has both sharp and sweet components, and a lemon meringue has both in spades.
It’s a given that a tart flavour such as lemon will work well with Moscato, but this dessert is also ideal due to the creamy meringue topping and crunchy base. Moscato seems to flavour even better when paired with a dessert that has both sharp and sweet components, and a lemon meringue has both in spades.
What do you think? What dessert do you think makes the perfect pairing with Moscato wine?
Great ideas thank you!
I have to admit to not being a fan of dessert wines, though this one sounds better than most. It would have probably been good with the gooseberry crumble we had last night!
That carrot and walnut cake looks heavenly, I would love to try it with the wine! I have never been very good at pairing wines!
Never tried this although I tend to pair dessert wines with a sharper dessert, so a gooseberry or blackberry fool.