Gallo Family Vineyards Moscato NV: Very pale yellowish color; oranges, honeysuckle, floral nose;
sweet oranges, peach, apricot, apple, spice on the palate. Light in the mouth; bold, sweet flavors abound, balanced by nice acidity. This is well made moscato by America’s largest family-owned winemakers, folks who know how to please palates of wide range of people. Moscato is a sticky wicket for most wine writers; we got into the business because we enjoy wine and want to explore it in all its permutations, but our natural attraction is to “serious” wines (weighted toward reds). Our wine journey may have begun with sweet and simple, but those days are long since in the rearview mirrors of our lives. At the same time, you want to serve all your readers, and many of them favor sweet and simple—witness the moscato boom and the continuing popularity of white zinfandel. My philosophy has always been “if you like it, then it is great wine for you.” Gallo’s effort will be a great find for many people. Moscato is made using muscat grapes, and a plural noun is the operative concept: there are more than 200 different muscat grapes. Muscat blanc is the variety most often used in wine; it also called muscat canelli and moscato bianco—and there are many more variations; its formal name is muscat blanc à petits grains. Muscat of Alexandria is variety most often used for raisins rather than wine. Muscat of Hamburg (also known at black muscat) usually is a table grape, but there are acres used in winemaking in California, so Gallo’s effort may include some. Muscat ottonel is found in Loire Valley wines of France; it has the palest skin of the major muscats used in wine making. Since moscato wine often is very light colored wine, it leads you think muscat grapes are white. The truth is the opposite—most muscat grapes are dark skinned, they just are not often used to make wine (black muscat is the exception). Gallo’s effort is crisp with loads of flavor and sweetness, exactly what millions of wine lovers want. $5