A Liqueur Muscat (or, to give it its correct name, Muscat) is a

fortified wine Fortified wine is a wine to which a distilled spirit, usually brandy, has been added. In the course of some centuries, winemakers have developed many different styles of fortified wine, including port, sherry, madeira, Marsala, Command ...

made in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

from the Muscat à Petits Grains Rouge (known locally as Brown Muscat). The wine is sweet, dark, highly alcoholic

Australian wine The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor ...

that has some similarities to

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

and Malaga. The grape is most commonly produced in Victoria in the

wine regions Wines are produced in significant growing regions where vineyards are planted. Wine grapes berries mostly grow between the 30th and the 50th degrees of latitude, in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, typically in regions of Mediterranean ...

Rutherglen Rutherglen (; , ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having previously existed as a separate Lanarkshire burgh, in 1975 Rutherglen lo ...

and Glenrowan.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 403 Oxford University Press 2006

Production

Liqueur Muscat essentially starts out being a

late harvest wine Late harvest wine is wine made from grapes left on the vine longer than usual. ''Late harvest'' is usually an indication of a sweet dessert wine, such as late harvest Riesling. Late harvest grapes are often more similar to raisins, but have been ...

with the grapes allowed to stay on the vine till they are in a partially

raisin A raisin is a Dried fruit, dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Afri ...

ed state. The grapes are then pressed and go through partial

fermentation Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...

where it is halted by the addition grape spirits. The wine is then aged in

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

in a system resembling the

Sherry Sherry ( ) is a fortified wine produced from white grapes grown around the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is a drink produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versio ...

solera system. Similar to Madeira, the wines are often exposed to high

temperatures Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making up a subst ...

Classification system

In 1995, a syndicate of producers in Rutherglen established a voluntary four-tier

classification Classification is the activity of assigning objects to some pre-existing classes or categories. This is distinct from the task of establishing the classes themselves (for example through cluster analysis). Examples include diagnostic tests, identif ...

and regulation system for their Muscat wines based on age, sweetness and complexity. At the lowest classification is the wine styled ''Rutherglen Muscat'' followed by ''Classic Muscat'' and ''Grand Muscat''. At the highest end and meant to indicate a richer and more complex wine is the ''Rare Muscat''. Classic Muscat is an average of five to ten years old with a residual sugar of 180-240 g/L. Grand Muscat's average age is ten to fifteen years and has a residual sugar level of 270-400 g/L. Rare Muscat is aged a minimum of twenty years and has a residual sugar level of 270-400 g/L. Based on taste alone, producers will classify their own wines. Member wines will be denoted by a stylized "R" logo on the bottle.

References

{{reflist Australian wine Fortified wine

Production

Classification system

See also

References