Cupcake Moscato D’ Asti (2010)

I bought this wine after I recommended it to a friend. That’s right, I recommended it THEN bought it. A friend texted me from the grocery aisle to ask what wine she should try and I knew she was partial to sweet wines, so I sent her off to search for a Moscato. I figured she couldn’t go wrong with a Cupcake wine. (She loved it. And then I decided I should probably try it.)

It was, as expected, quite sweet. Moscato comes from the Muscat grape family, and Moscato D’Asti is a sparkling sweet wine, almost always served as a dessert wine. Not usually my type of wine, but this one did have a nice pear taste to it, and a little more complexity than a lot of sweet wines I’ve tried. I ended up bringing it along on a picnic/walk date with a friend. Along with the strawberries we snacked on, it was a yummy treat to sit outside on a breezy spring day and sip.

I’d recommend it to someone who has a preference to sweet wines and is looking for a fun wine, maybe even a special occasion wine. Keeping it nice and chilled while you serve it tempers some of the sweetness. While it is a dessert wine, you may want to avoid serving it with a dessert that is actually sweeter than the wine. It’d do best with a cheesecake or a fruit-based tart. The bubbles can dissipate quickly, so drink up once you open!

(Love these glasses that my friend Anne gave me as a thanks for doing her baby shower – they are plastic and so perfect for picnics on my porch!)

Tasting Notes:

Name: Cupcake Moscato d’ Asti

Grape: Moscato Bianco

Origin: Italy (Asti)

Price: $10.99 at Harris Teeter

General impressions: Sweet, pear notes, well balanced for a medium priced dessert wine, sparkling, a celebratory wine

Recommendations: a wine to pair with dessert or serve for dessert, a celebratory wine, a wine for parties and birthdays, a wine for people who are partial to sweet wines