Muscadelle () is a white

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, Zante currant, currant, sultana (grape), sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, including those unimp ...

. It has a simple

aroma An odor (American English) or odour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is a smell or a scent caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds generally found in low concentrations that humans and many animals can perceive v ...

of grape juice and raisins like grapes of the

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

family of grapes, but it is unrelated. DNA analysis has indicated that Muscadelle is a cross between

Gouais blanc Gouais blanc () or Weißer Heunisch () is a white grape variety that is seldom grown today but is important as the ancestor of many traditional French and German grape varieties. The name ''Gouais'' derives from the old French adjective ‘ ...

and an unidentified grape variety.

Wine regions

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, it is a minor constituent in the dry and sweet wines of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, such as Sauternes. It rarely makes up more than 10% of the blend, which is dominated by

Sémillon Sémillon () is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, mostly in French wine, France and Australian wine, Australia. Its thin skin and susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea, botrytis make it dominate the sweet wine region S ...

and

Sauvignon blanc Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...

. Throughout the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century, plantings of the grape were falling. Some sweet wines from Monbazillac, on the other hand, can have a higher proportion of Muscadelle. 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 ...

, the grape is used to make 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 ...

, now known as Topaque (formerly Tokay). Those made in the

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 ...

region generally receive considerable aging in hot cellars, leading to a maderised and

oxidative Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is ...

character. A few other Australian wine regions, including the

Barossa Valley The Barossa Valley (Barossa German: ''Barossa Tal'') is a valley in South Australia located northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major list of wine-producing regions, wine-producin ...

, make similar wines. A few other Australian wineries use Muscadelle to make table wines in a similar way to French wineries. In accordance with an agreement reached with the EU, Australian producers phased out their use of the term Tokay by 2020, most choosing instead the name ''Topaque'' to represent this style. The name, Tokay, convinced some Australian producers that the grape was

Pinot gris Pinot gris, pinot grigio (, ), or ''Grauburgunder'' is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the pinot noir variety, it normally has a pinkish-gray hue, accounting for its name, but th ...

(which used to be called Tokay by producers in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

). Others thought the grape might have been Hárslevelű, one of the components of the famous Hungarian sweet wine Tokaji. However, it has been proven that Australian Tokay is Muscadelle.

Synonyms

Muscadelle is also known under the synonyms Angelicaut, Angelico, Blanc Cadillac, Blanche Douce, Bouillenc Muscat, Buillenc, Cadillac, Catape, Colle, Colle Musquette, Doucanelle, Douzanelle, Enfin, Guepie, Guilan Doux, Guilan Muscat, Guilan Musque, Guillan, Guillan Musque, Guinlhan Musque, Marmesie, Marseillais, Muscade, Muscadela, Muscadelle de Bordelais, Muscadet, Muscadet Doux, Muscalea, Muscat Fou, Musquette, Pedro Ximenes Krimsky, Raisimotte, Raisin de Musco, Raisinote, Raisinotte, Rousselou, Sauvignon à Gros Grains, Sauvignon Muscadelle, Sauvignon vert, Tokay, Vesparo, and White Angelica.Muscadelle
,

Vitis International Variety Catalogue The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung G ...

, accessed 2010-12-03

References

{{reflist White wine grape varieties