Brandini Moscato D'Asti 2020
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Wilfred
Wong
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
With its color of clear, straw yellow with gold highlights, the nose immediately recalls the grapes from which it is produced with notes of ripe white peach, honey, and wildflowers. The flavor is dense and full, perfectly balanced by the acidity typical of this wine. It recalls the hints of ripe grapes and ends with a good persistence.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 Agricola Brandini Moscato d'Asti is bright, fresh, aromatic, and delicate. TASTING NOTES; This wine shines with aromas and flavors of flowers, apples, and stone fruits. Pair it with fresh fruits or just by itself. (Tasted: July 10, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
Other Vintages
2021-
Wilfred
Wong
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.
Recognized as the source of the best Barbera in all of Italy, Asti is a province (as well as major city) in Piedmont, consisting of a gentle, rolling landscape with vineyards, farmland and forests alternating throughout.
Barbera d’Asti can be made in an array of styles from relatively straightforward, fruity and ready for consumption early, to the more concentrated, oak aged version with an ability to cellar impressively for 10-15 years and beyond. Some of the very best sites for Barbera in Asti are concentrated in the subzone of Nizza Monferrato. Other red varieties grown here include Freisa, Grignolino and Dolcetto, which can be bottled varietally or blended into Barbera.
Historically consumers commonly associated the Asti region with Asti Spumante and Moscato d’Asti, both playful, aromatic, sparkling wines made from the Muscat grape. Asti Spumante is less sweet, fully fizzy and more alcoholic (yet still clocking in at only around 9% alcohol) while Moscato d’Asti is sweeter, gently sparkling (“frizzante”) and closer to 5 or 6% alcohol. Each is produced in stainless steel tanks to preserve the fresh and fruity flavors of the grape, often including peach, apricot, lychee and rose petal. Asti is also the spot for the pink-hued Brachetto d'Acqui, a slightly sparkling wine ready to charm with its raspberry and rose flavors and aromas.