Muscat of Alexandria

Identity

Muscat of Alexandria is one of the most widely grown varieties in the world, and one of the quietest in this corpus — where it appears only as an accessory variety of a single appellation.

Its French role is marginal. Elsewhere it makes the raisins of Malaga, the moscatels of Spain and Portugal, and a considerable share of Mediterranean table grapes. In France it is the makeweight beside Muscat à Petits Grains in the vins doux naturels.

Its place in the Muscat family

According to genetic analysis cited by Pl@ntGrape, it comes from a crossing of Muscat à Petits Grains Blanc with Heptakilo.

In other words: it descends from the Muscat it accompanies. Muscat à Petits Grains is the family's ancestor, the one this corpus gives as the most intense and the finest; Muscat of Alexandria is its offspring, with a larger berry and a broader perfume.

It is the third configuration of this kind here. Muscat Ottonel is an intended 1839 crossing made to carry Muscat northwards; Muscat of Hamburg is a nineteenth-century English table grape; this one is an old Mediterranean descendant. Three ways of extending a family.

In the vineyard

Bud burst mid-season, ripeness late, and low vigour with a drooping habit.

Late ripening explains its geography: it needs warmth into autumn, which confines it to the Mediterranean rim. In a cooler climate it does not finish — which is exactly the problem Muscat Ottonel was created to sidestep.

In the glass

Pl@ntGrape attests the register: it "allows the making of vins doux naturels with powerful, elegant, floral aromas".

Powerful, elegant, floral — that is a generic attestation, not a named descriptor. This entry keeps one, orange blossom, and its context states exactly what it is worth: the floral register is sourced, the choice of descriptor to stand for it is not.

It is a judgement this corpus makes often, and prefers to spell out rather than let pass for a quotation.

Where it is named

At Banyuls, an accessory variety for the vins doux naturels, alongside Muscat à Petits Grains.

It is the only published appellation in this corpus to cite it, which is consistent with its French use: Muscat de Rivesaltes, where it counts for more, has no node here yet.

What it gets confused with

Muscat à Petits Grains, its parent, which is the Muscat of the great French wines — Alsace, Beaumes-de-Venise, Rivesaltes. It is finer, more spiced, smaller-berried.

Muscat of Hamburg and Muscat Ottonel, the corpus's two other Muscats, neither of which is its parent.

Four Muscats published here, four different histories: a stock, two nineteenth-century creations and a Mediterranean descendant. The word "Muscat" names an aromatic register, not a variety.